Almost every one of us has had to face the manifestations of helminthiasis. These parasites coexist with humans 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, which complement traditional treatments, have also not lost on importance.
About helminths
About 250 species of parasites live in human tissues and organs. They are all divided into two classes:
- flatworms (nemotodes);
- roundworms (cestodes and trematodes).
Their size ranges from a few millimeters to 10-12 m. The parasites quickly become sexually mature, after which they acquire the ability to lay ten to one hundred thousand eggs a day.
These eggs remain viable for a long time, even if the conditions in which they are not the most favorable. Types of organisms affected by parasites, according to the stage of their development:
- the final host, in which helminths can develop to the stage of puberty;
- intermediate hosts, where helminths live to one of the stages of their development.
In the body of the final host, the parasite can many times spend the full cycle of its development and live in it for decades. For different types of parasites, a person can be both final and intermediate, such as mollusks, fish and carnivores. According to the type of biological cycle, cases of parasite infection are divided into:
- biohelminthiasis - the development of helminths takes place in organisms of different species;
- geohelminthiasis - helminth eggs spend part of their developmental cycle in the soil, without intermediate hosts.
How does parasite infestation work?
The ways in which helminths enter the human body are very diverse, depending on social characteristics, natural and climatic factors, and food preferences. The main ways of helminth infection:
- 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 you eat contaminated seafood, meat, fish (trematode).
The dietary characteristics of some peoples in the north suggest the use of lightly salted and raw fish for food. The prevalence of trichinosis and echinococcosis is high in this population.
Which organs are affected by helminthiasis
Helminth lesions can be localized in many organs and tissues. The localization of helminths depends on the stage of its development, so that the same type of worm at different stages of its existence can parasitize in different parts of the intestine. Organs affected by helminthiasis:
- Colon - roundworms, pinworms;
- Duodenum - Strongyloides stercoralis;
- lymphatic vessels,
- Lungs - Paragonimidae;
- Subcutaneous tissue - Larva migrans.
- Helminths parasitize in the hollow organs and tissues of the human body.
Depending on the location of the parasite, helminthiasis is divided into types:
- tissues (echinococcosis, cysticercosis);
- transparent (tenia, enterobia, ascariasis).
Some of the helminths in the larval stage transform the tissues of the human body, forming capsules or granules around themselves (Trichinella, Toxocara). There is a type of helminth that migrates in the larval stage and under the skin of a person, and in the tissues of its organs (larval helminths).
Their temporary stay in the human body takes both visceral and cutaneous forms, and the person is an indirect host for them.
Clinical manifestations of helminthiasis
Like many other infections, helminthiasis goes through two stages of development: acute and chronic. Their duration:
- acute phase - from 2-3 weeks to several months;
- chronic phase - from 2-3 months to several years.
Despite the diversity of helminth species and their localization, the symptoms of the acute phase 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.
A laboratory blood test indicates a change in its formula - eosinophilia is diagnosed and a significant increase in the number of leukocytes. The transition of helminthiasis to the chronic stage is marked by symptoms that depend on which organ is affected by parasites, the degree of development of worms, their number and diversity. In the chronic phase of helminthiasis, the following symptoms are diagnosed:
- dyspepsia and intestinal pain,
- bowel obstruction,
- colitis in hemorrhagic form,
- anemia,
- avitaminosis,
- drastic weight loss
- obstructive jaundice, hepatitis (with liver damage),
- loss of some functions of the central nervous system (with localization of parasites in the brain),
- inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs (when pinworms migrate into the vagina),
- gastric and intestinal ulcers (with chronic strongyloidiasis),
- damage to muscle tissue, the formation of granulomas in the capillaries of the brain (in severe trichinosis),
- damage to the lymphatic system (when infected with nematodes).
In helminthiasis caused by echinococcus, not only do liver cysts form, parasites can damage bone tissue. This makes the bones fragile 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 nodule containing parasites. This nodule 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 signs.
Diagnosis of parasite infestation
If you do not make an accurate diagnosis on time, you may miss the time when starting treatment could be most effective.
The transition from helminthiasis from the acute phase to the chronic form often masks the true cause of the disease.
Parasite infection can be confused with the symptoms of completely different diseases.
It is extremely important not to self-medicate, but to seek medical help from an infectologist or parasitologist. There are enough modern methods in his arsenal to diagnose a parasitic infection:
- laboratory examination of feces, bile, sputum, blood, urine, rectal and
- anal scraping of 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 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 by folk methods
According to the results of the diagnosis, the doctor prescribes anthelmintic therapy, the time of the control study after treatment.
All expert recommendations should be followed carefully to avoid complications.
It is not necessary to remind about the observance of preventive hygienic measures that will prevent the infection of family members with parasites and secondary infection.
Proponents of the use of folk recipes must keep in mind that the use of these funds is an auxiliary method that does not replace drug treatment.
Like medicines, traditional medicines have contraindications and side effects. That is why it is worth discussing this method with your doctor before using them. Home remedies:
- Taking peeled pumpkin seeds for 2 weeks, keeping a thin green skin on the seeds.
- Decoction of the bark, removed from one pomegranate in 3/4 tablespoon. boiling water. The drug is drunk on an empty stomach, it must be done in an hour and a half, dividing the soup into three doses. 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.
- Intake of whole garlic cloves into the rectum (against enterobiasis).
- Intake of freshly prepared garlic juice (10-15 ml) together with warm milk (1 glass), the mixture should be drunk on an empty stomach, the medicine 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 rinsed. Effective in giardiasis.
- Enema with garlic porridge, taken just before bedtime, is effective for pinworms and tapeworms. Enema solution: stir in a glass of water 1 tsp. finely ground garlic. Behave regularly throughout the week.
- Decoction of 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. Spent 7 times, the effect of the treatment can be improved by repeating the course after a ten-day break.
Herbs and fees:
- Pour 1 ml of dried wormwood with 400 ml (2 tablespoons) of boiling water, strain and cool, take an infusion of 1-2 tbsp. l. three times daily before each meal. Effective for ascariasis and enterobiasis.
- Tansy (1 tablespoon of dried flowers) and 0, 5 liters of boiling water leave for 3 hours and introduce as an enema into the rectum at 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 salted boiling water is strained and taken simultaneously with the laxative. Effective against tapeworm, ascariasis, enterobiosis.
- 1 st. 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 meals. So, you have to be treated for 2-3 days, finish taking the infusion with a 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, a few tablespoons of sugar must be added. The volume of the final product is 1 cup of soup, it must be drunk 1-2 sips a day before meals.
- Helminthiasis is a complex infection with a multicomponent clinical picture. They can cause serious complications, cause irreversible damage to human health.
It is unacceptable to self-medicate when you are infected with parasites. Folk recipes should be used with great caution, only as an adjunct to drug therapy.