Editor's Note: The video of leeches used in surgery is a bit bloody — especially after the 2-minute mark. Leeches get a bad rap — but they might not deserve it. Yes, they're creepy crawly ...

(USA TODAY) -- Andrew Plucinski’s leeches are picky about skin. When offered the chance to bite a person who bathes in smelly soap they recoil, even when they’re hungry. Leeches prefer their humans ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. It’s not exactly the kind of therapy you’d expect to get at the ...

Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. Mark Siddall: Dear Inge, Yes. Stay very very still. They are ...

On July 29, 2008, Mark Siddall answered selected viewer questions about leeches large and small, the best way to remove one from your skin, whether he'd undergo leech therapy himself, and more. Please ...

WALKER, Minn. — Minnesota's third-largest lake has a namesake only an angler could love: the leech. Earthworm's ugly aquatic cousin. Those slimy, crawly creatures straight out of a horror film. But ...

Andrew Plucinski’s leeches are picky about skin. When offered the chance to bite a person who bathes in smelly soap, they recoil, even when they’re hungry. Leeches prefer their humans unseasoned. In ...

Mark Sandeman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...

MOSCOW — They are small as physician assistants go, about 2 inches long, and slithery. They wiggle about for a bit on Elena A. Kalinicheva’s back before getting down to what they do best: sucking ...

Yes, they're creepy crawly blood-suckers. And they can instill an almost primal sense of disgust and revulsion. Humphrey Bogart's character in the 1951 film The African Queen even went so far as to ...