Talk:Leech

Interactions with humans - Bites - anesthetic compounds

Greetings,

Please refer to this edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leech&diff=prev&oldid=1141786515

A sentence was changed to read: "Leech saliva is commonly believed to contain anaesthetic compounds to numb the bite area, but no evidence for this has been published."

An editor can not reasonably state that something that could happen at any time has not happened. The most one could say is that you have not found any published evidence, and that statement would not belong in the article. As an encyclopedia, we are supposed to summarize information that has been published elsewhere, and provide a citation. Two valid citations were provided that refute the idea of anesthetic compounds in leech saliva, and certainly Mark Siddall should know ... but that is not a citation for the statement that no evidence for this has been published.

Here is a citation from the NIH: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3296343/

"The saliva of leech contains numerous biologically active substances, which have anti inflammatory as well as anesthetic properties."

So the most an editor could say is: "Leech saliva is commonly believed to contain anaesthetic compounds to numb the bite area, but some authorities disagree." and give your citations.

I've made this change  • Bobsd •  (talk) 16:47, 28 August 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 9 December 2025

The number of leeches and how many are marine, terrestrial and fresh water is written twice a few paragraphs apart with different wording. Bingbongboye69 (talk) 00:27, 9 December 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Aston305 (complain/compliment) 00:51, 9 December 2025 (UTC)