Almost every one of us had to deal with manifestations of helminthiasis. These parasites coexist with man for so long that Hippocrates himself mentioned them in his writings. According to WHO statistics, more than five billion people on Earth are currently affected by various types of helminthiasis.
The pharmaceutical industry regularly produces modern products designed to neutralize parasites in the human body, folk remedies for helminthiasis, complementing the traditional treatment, have also not lost their importance.
About helminths
There are about 250 species of parasites that live in human tissues and organs. Everything is divided into two categories:
- flatworms (nemotodes)?
- round worms (cestodes and terns).
Their size ranges from a few millimeters to 10-12 m. The parasites mature sexually very quickly, after which they acquire the ability to lay from ten to one hundred thousand eggs a day.
These eggs remain viable for a long time, even if the conditions under which they are not most favorable. Types of organisms affected by parasites, depending on their stage of development:
- the final host, in which helminths can develop in adolescence.
- intermediate host, where helminths live up to one of their developmental stages.
In the body of the final host, the parasite can carry out a full cycle of its development many times and live in it for several decades. For different types of parasites, a person can be both a terminal and an intermediate host, such as mollusks, fish and carnivores. Depending on the type of biological cycle, the cases of parasite infestation are classified as:
- Biohelminthiasis - the development of helminthiasis takes place in organisms of various types.
- geohelminthiases - helminth eggs spend part of their growth cycle in the soil, without an intermediate host.
How does parasite infestation work?
The ways in which helminths enter the human body are very different, depending on social characteristics, natural and climatic factors and dietary preferences. The main ways of helminth infection:
- Through dirty hands, contaminated water, poorly processed food.
- When you inhale dust particles with worm eggs.
- Through the skin;
- After a mosquito bite as an intermediate host (Wuchereria bancrofti).
- When eating contaminated seafood, meat, fish (trembling).
The nutritional characteristics of some northern peoples suggest the use of lightly salted and raw fish for food. In this population, the prevalence of trichinosis and echinococcosis is high.
Which organs are affected by helminthiasis
Defeat by helminths can be found in many organs and tissues. The location of the helminth depends on the stage of its development, so the same type of worm at different stages of its existence can infest different parts of the intestine. Organs affected by helminthiasis:
- Colon - round worm, pinworms?
- Duodenum - Strongyloides stercoralis;
- lymphatics,
- Lungs - Paragonimidae;
- Subcutaneous tissue - Larva migrans.
- Worms infest hollow organs and tissues of the human body.
Depending on the location of the parasites, helminthiases are divided into types:
- tissue (echinococcosis, cysticercosis).
- translucent (filming, enterobiasis, ascariasis).
Some of the larvae in the larval stage transform the tissues of the human body, forming capsules or granules around them (trichinella, archer). There is a type of helminth that migrates in the larval stage and under a person's skin and in the tissues of his organs (larval helminths).
Their temporary stay in the human body takes both visceral and dermal forms, a person 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 variety of helminth types and their location, the symptoms of the acute stage have common manifestations - these are symptoms of allergies and toxic effects on the human body:
- slight increase in temperature.
- muscle pain,
- skin rashes,
- limb swelling,
- enlarged lymph nodes,
- indigestion,
- swelling of the spleen and liver,
- CNS damage.
A laboratory blood test indicates a change in his type - he is diagnosed with eosinophilia and a significant increase in the number of white blood cells. The transition of helminthiasis to the chronic stage is characterized by symptoms that depend on which organ is affected by the parasites, the stage of development of the worms, their number and variety. In the chronic stage of helminthiasis, the following symptoms are diagnosed:
- indigestion and intestinal pain,
- intestinal obstruction,
- hemorrhagic colitis,
- anemia,
- vitamin deficiency,
- drastic weight loss
- obstructive jaundice, hepatitis (with liver damage),
- loss of certain functions of the central nervous system (by detecting parasites in the brain),
- inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs (when pinworms migrate to the vagina),
- stomach and intestinal ulcers (with chronic diarrhea),
- damage to muscle tissue, formation of granulomas in the capillaries of the brain (with severe trichinosis),
- damage to the lymphatic system (when infected with nematodes).
With echinococcal helminthiasis, not only are liver cysts formed, but parasites can damage bone tissue. This makes the bones brittle and creates an additional risk of bone fractures. The defeat of the human body by the larvae of Dirofilaria repens occurs in the form of the formation of a subcutaneous node containing parasites. This node can 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 this disease, there are no clear specific points.
Diagnosis of parasitic infection
If you do not make an accurate diagnosis in time, you may lose the moment the treatment started could be more effective.
The transition of the helminth from the acute stage to the chronic form often hides the real cause of the disease.
Infection with parasites can be mistaken for symptoms of completely different diseases.
It is extremely important not to self-medicate, but to seek medical help from an infectious disease or parasitologist. In its arsenal there are several modern methods for diagnosing parasitic infection:
- laboratory examination of stool, bile, sputum, blood, urine, rectum and
- sawdust scraping of mucus, the contents of the duodenum to detect parasites, their eggs and larvae.
- Ultrasound, x-ray?
- Endoscopy, endobiopsy.
The most effective method is considered a serological test - a method of analysis of blood serum for the presence of antigen for infection with certain types of helminths.
This study can show the presence of parasites even in the early stages of infection.
Treatment of parasitic infection with folk methods
According to the results of the diagnosis, the doctor prescribes anthelmintic treatment, the schedule of the control study after treatment.
All the recommendations of a specialist should be followed carefully to avoid complications.
It is unnecessary to remind about the observance of preventive hygienic measures that will prevent the infection of family members by parasites and the secondary infection.
Proponents of using prescriptions should keep in mind that using these funds is a helpful method that does not replace drug therapy.
Like medicines, traditional medicines have contraindications and side effects. This is why it is worth discussing this method with your doctor before using it. Home remedies:
- Taking peeled pumpkin seeds for 2 weeks, keeping the thin green skin on the seed.
- A decoction of the peel, removed from a pomegranate in 3/4 tbsp. boiling water. The drug is taken on an empty stomach, this should be done in an hour and a half, dividing the broth into three portions. After a few hours, be sure to stimulate the stool with any laxative.
- Enema with freshly squeezed carrot juice (40 ml) should be done daily for 7 days.
- Regular use of garlic and preparations containing it.
- The insertion of a whole clove of garlic in the rectum (against enterobiasis).
- Take fresh garlic juice (10-15 ml) together with warm milk (1 glass), the mixture should be drunk on an empty stomach, the treatment should be repeated 1-2 times during the day.
- Infuse 50 g of a mixture of garlic and grated horseradish root in half a liter of vodka. The mixture is injected for 1, 5 weeks, filtered. Mandatory dose - 1 tablespoon. large. The infusion should be washed before each meal. Effective in sprinkling.
- Garlic enema, taken shortly before bedtime, is effective for pin and tapeworms. Enema solution: mix in a glass of water 1 tsp. chopped garlic. Exercise regularly throughout the week.
- A decoction of 2 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp milk, 1 tbsp. large. Dried tansy flowers are administered as an enema. The enema mixture should boil for about 10 minutes. Perform 7 times, the effect of the treatment can be determined by repeating the course after a ten-day break.
Herbs and charges:
- 1 teaspoon dried wormwood pour 400 ml (2 tablespoons) boiling water, strain and cool, take an infusion of 1-2 tbsp. three times daily before each meal. Effective for ascariasis and enterobiasis.
- Tansy (1 tbsp. Dried flowers) and 0. 5 liter of boiling water leave for 3 hours and enter as an enema in the rectum before going to bed. The drug is contraindicated in pregnant women and children.
- Infusion for half an hour from 4 tbsp. Large. unripe walnuts and a glass of salted boiling water are filtered and taken simultaneously with laxative. Effective against tapeworm, ascariasis, enterobiasis.
- 1 ag. large. tansy flowers pour 200 ml boiling water, an hour later the infusion is filtered. The frequency of admission is standard - Art. large. 20 minutes before meals. Therefore, you should receive treatment for 2-3 days, complete the reception of the infusion with laxative.
- A decoction of 1 kg of sorrel and 1 liter of boiling water is boiled for 2 hours (it is better to do it in a water bath), filtered, should be added to it a few tablespoons of sugar. The volume of the final product is 1 glass of broth, it should be taken 1-2 sips a day before meals.
- Helminthiases are complex infections with a multi-component clinical picture. They can cause serious complications, cause irreversible damage to human health.
It is unacceptable to self-medicate when you become infected with parasites. Folk remedies should be used with extreme caution, only as an adjunct that accompanies drug treatment.