Almost every one of us has to deal with manifestations of helminthiasis. These parasites have existed with humans for so long that Hippocrates himself mentioned them in his writings. According to WHO statistics, currently on Earth more than five billion people are affected by various types of helminthiases.
The pharmacological industry regularly produces modern products designed to neutralize parasites in the human body, folk remedies for helminthiasis, adding traditional treatments, also do not lose their relevance.
About helminths
There are about 250 species of parasites that live in human tissues and organs. They are all divided into two classes:
- flatworm (nemotod);
- ringworms (cestodia and trematodes).
Its size ranges from a few millimeters to 10-12 m Parasites become sexually mature quickly, after which they acquire the ability to lay from ten to a hundred thousand eggs per day.
These eggs remain viable for a long time, even in conditions where it is not the best. Types of organisms affected by parasites, according to their stage of development:
- the last host, where helminths can develop into puberty;
- intermediate hosts, in which helminths live up to one stage of their development.
In the last host body, the parasite can carry out its full cycle of development many times, and live in it for decades. For many different types of parasites, one can be the final and intermediate host, just as they can be mollusks, fish, and carnivores. According to the type of biological cycle, cases of parasitic infestation are classified as:
- biohelminthiasis - the development of helminths occurs in organisms of various types;
- geohelminthiases - helminth eggs spend part of their developmental cycle in the soil, without an intermediate host.
How does a parasite attack work?
The ways in which helminths enter the human body are very diverse, it depends on social characteristics, natural and climatic factors, and food choices. The main ways of infection with helminths:
- Through dirty hands, contaminated water, poorly processed food.
- When inhaling dust particles with worm eggs;
- Through the skin;
- After mosquito bites as an intermediate host (Wuchereria bancrofti);
- When eating contaminated seafood, meat, fish (trematodes).
The nutritional characteristics of some people in the North suggest the use of salted and raw fish for food. In this population, the prevalence of trichinosis and echinococcosis is high.
What organs are affected by helminthiasis
Defeat by helminths can be localized in many organs and tissues. The localization of a helminth depends on its stage of development, so the same type of worm at different stages of its existence can become parasites in different parts of the intestine. Organs affected by helminthiasis:
- Large intestine - ringworm, pinworms;
- Duodenum - Strongyloides stercoralis;
- lymphatic vessels,
- Lungs - Paragonimidae;
- Subcutaneous tissue - Larva migrans.
- Helminths are parasitic in the hollow organs and tissues of the human body.
Depending on the location of the parasite, helminthiases are divided into types:
- tissue (echinococcosis, cysticercosis);
- translucent (taeniasis, enterobiasis, ascariasis).
Some helminths at the larval stage alter the tissues of the human body, forming capsules or granules around them (trichinella, toxocara). There are a type of helminths that migrate at the larval stage and under a person’s skin, and in the tissues of his organs (helminths larvae).
Living while they are in the human body taking on both visceral and skin forms, someone for them is an intermediate host.
Clinical manifestations of helminthiasis
Like many other infections, helminthiasis goes through two stages of development: acute and chronic. Their duration:
- acute stage - from 2-3 weeks to several months;
- chronic stage - from 2-3 months to several years.
Despite the wide variety of helminths and their localization, the symptoms of the acute stage have common manifestations - these are the symptoms of allergies and toxic effects on the human body:
- slight increase in temperature;
- muscle pain,
- skin rash,
- limb edema,
- enlarged lymph nodes,
- dyspepsia,
- enlargement of the spleen and liver,
- CNS damage.
Laboratory blood tests showed changes in its formula - eosinophilia and a significant increase in the number of leukocytes diagnosed. The transition of helminthiasis to the chronic stage is marked by symptoms that depend on which organ is affected by the parasite, on the stage of development of the worm, its number, and its diversity. In the chronic stage of helminthiasis, the following symptoms are diagnosed:
- dyspepsia and pain in the intestines,
- intestinal obstruction,
- colitis in the form of hemorrhagic,
- anemia,
- avitaminosis,
- drastic weight loss
- obstructive jaundice, hepatitis (with liver damage),
- loss of some function of the central nervous system (with localization of parasites in the brain),
- pelvic inflammatory disease (when pinworms migrate into the vagina),
- stomach and intestinal ulcers (with chronic strongyloidiasis),
- damage to muscle tissue, the formation of granulomas in the capillaries of the brain (with severe trichinosis),
- damage to the lymphatic system (when infected with nematodes).
With helminthiases caused by echinococci, not only hepatic cysts form, but parasites can damage bone tissue. This makes the bones brittle and creates an additional risk of fractures. Defeat of the human body by the larvae of Dirofilaria repens occurs in the form of the formation of subcutaneous nodes containing parasites. These nodes are able to move in the thickness of the skin and mucous membranes.
Analyzing the symptoms of helminthiasis, one can be sure that there is no stable clinical picture of the disease, no obvious specific signs.
Diagnosis of parasitic infestation
If you do not make a timely diagnosis, you can miss the time when treatment begins may be most effective.
The transition of helminthiasis from the acute stage to the chronic form often obscures the true cause of the disease.
Infection with parasites can be mistaken for a symptom of a completely different disease.
It is very important not to self -medicate, but to seek medical help from an infectious disease specialist or parasite specialist. In his arsenal there are enough modern methods to diagnose parasitic infections:
- laboratory examination of feces, bile, sputum, blood, urine, rectum and
- scraping male mucus, duodenal contents to detect parasites, their eggs and larvae;
- Ultrasound, radiography;
- Endoscopy, endobiopsy.
The most effective method is considered to be a serological test - a method of analyzing blood serum for the presence of antigens to infections with certain types of helminths.
This study was able to show the presence of parasites even in the early stages of infection.
Treatment of parasitic infections by folk methods
According to the results of the diagnosis, the doctor prescribes anthelmintic therapy, control study time after treatment.
All expert recommendations should be carefully followed to avoid complications.
It is not necessary to remind about the observance of preventive hygiene measures that will prevent the attack of family members with parasites and secondary infections.
Proponents of the use of folk recipes need to remember that the use of these funds is an additional method that does not replace drug treatment.
Like medicine, traditional medicine has contraindications and side effects. That is why it is worth discussing this method with your doctor before using it. Home treatment:
- Take peeled pumpkin seeds for 2 weeks, maintaining a thin green skin on the seeds.
- Boil the skin, removed from one pomegranate in 3/4 tbsp. boiling water. The drug is taken on an empty stomach, this must be done in one and a half hours, dividing the broth into three doses. After a few hours, be sure to stimulate the stool with any laxatives.
- An enema with freshly squeezed carrot juice (40 ml) should be performed daily for 7 days.
- Regular use of garlic and preparations containing it.
- Introduction of whole cloves of garlic into the rectum (against enterobiasis).
- Reception of freshly prepared garlic juice (10-15 ml) together with warm milk (1 glass), the mixture should be drunk on an empty stomach, the drug should be repeated 1-2 times during the day.
- Infusion of 50 g of a mixture of garlic and grated horseradish root in half a liter of vodka. The mixture is infused for 1. 5 weeks, filtered. Mandatory dose - 1 tbsp. l. before each meal, the infusion must be washed. Effective in giardiasis.
- An enema with garlic gruel, taken just before bedtime, is effective for cream worms and tapeworms. Enema solution: stir in a glass of water 1 tsp. finely grind garlic. Do it regularly throughout the week.
- Boil 2 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp. milk, 1 tbsp. l. dried tansy flowers are given as an enema. The enema mixture should be boiled for about 10 minutes. Perform 7 times, the effect of treatment can be improved by repeating the course after a break of ten days.
Herbs and fees:
- 1 teaspoon driedwormwood pour 400 ml (2 tablespoons) boiling water, strain and cool, take the infusion of 1-2 tbsp. l. three times a day before each meal. Effective for ascariasis and enterobiasis.
- Tansy (1 tbsp. Dried flowers) and 0. 5 liters of boiling water leave for 3 hours and insert as an enema in the rectum before bedtime. The drug is contraindicated in pregnant women and children.
- Infusion for half an hour of 4 tbsp. l. unripe walnuts and a glass of boiling salted water are filtered and taken simultaneously with laxatives. Effective against tapeworms, ascariasis, enterobiasis.
- 1 hb. l. tansy flowers pour 200 ml of boiling water, an hour later the infusion is filtered. The frequency of admission is standard - Art. l. 20 minutes before eating. Therefore, you need to be treated for 2-3 days, finish taking the infusion with laxatives.
- Boil 1 kg of sorrel and 1 liter of boiling water boiled for 2 hours (better to do this in a water bath), filtered, a few tablespoons of sugar must be added to it. The amount of the final product is 1 glass of soup, it must be drunk 1-2 sips a day before meals.
- Helminthiases are complex infections with a multicomponent clinical picture. They can cause serious complications, causing irreversible harm to human health.
It is not acceptable to self -medicate when infected with parasites. Folk recipes should be used with extreme caution, only as an assistant that accompanies drug therapy.