GENERAL HISTOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The therapeutic use of bleeding in antiquity used the species Hirudo medicinalis. Leeches produce hirudin, an anticoagulant substance that prevents blood clotting in their gut.

Detailed explanation-2: -Leeches produce an enzyme in their saliva called hirudin. Hirudin is a powerful anticoagulant. They produce this to prevent their host from forming a clot so that they can feast on blood more easily.

Detailed explanation-3: -Each leech can consume about 5 to 10 ml of blood at each feeding, almost 10 times its own weight. They have three jaws and a hundred teeth. As they bite, they inject an anaesthetic into the skin and their saliva contains anticoagulants which stop the blood clotting.

Detailed explanation-4: -Leeches are a class of segmented worms closely related to aquatic earth worms that live primarily in freshwater, although some marine and terrestrial species exist.

Detailed explanation-5: -Because leeches produce an anticoagulant and literally suck blood from the surface of skin, they are often used to revive delicate veins and improve blood flow following a tissue reattachment procedure.