Worms in humans, helminths - symptoms, treatment, prevention, analysis

washing your hands to prevent infection with worms

Helminths that develop in a person are the cause of various diseases. Medical statistics have recorded 300 pathological conditions caused by parasites. Distinguish between the intestinal and extra-intestinal nature of the origin of the infection:

  1. The larvae are located in the intestines.
  2. They are found in the lungs, kidneys, liver, brain, and other organs.

Common types of helminths

Worms enter the body of adults and children. Babies are most often infected through contact with animals (stray cats, dogs), ignoring hand hygiene. Worms damage individual organs and lead to general deterioration of health. Roundworms and pinworms are considered to be round-shaped worms, photos of which are ubiquitous on the Internet. Popular types of bands - tapeworms, tapeworms. A large adult tapeworm reaches 9 meters. His life expectancy is 25 years.

In medical practice, the popular diagnosis is enterobiasis - an intestinal infection caused by pinworms. Parasites are compact in size, they rarely reach a length of 1 cm, lead an active life at night for 1. 5-2 months. Pinworms have enough time to lay their eggs on the skin around the anus. The larvae contribute to the rapid development of the disease. After laying, pinworms die off, but the fertile offspring quickly increases the population in the tissues of the human body.

The second popular diagnosis in medical practice is ascariasis. The disease is caused by large types of pathogens, reaching a length of 20 cm. Living in the small intestine, roundworms are invisible to the eye. It is difficult to find roundworms in the stool. Their lifespan is from one to several years.

Causes of worm infection

What are the causes of the disease? What situations become a platform for the development of a dangerous infection? Based on the data analysis, experts identify the following factors:

  • Biohelminths (tapeworms) enter the body with meat dishes that have not undergone extensive heat treatment. The best prevention of contamination is to boil, fry and steam the meat for food. Raw beef is breeding ground for bovine tapeworm, pork - pork tapeworm.
  • Raw fish is an excellent breeding ground for broad tapeworm and opisthorchosis. If the dishes are cooked under insufficient temperature conditions and people eat them, the tapeworm enters the body and attaches itself to the mucous tissues. An important rule for those who like to go in nature is that you cannot wash dishes in bodies of water, it is forbidden to wash food in rivers, to rinse hands without soap in lakes, becausethe water is often contaminated with harmful larvae.
  • Roundworms are found in the soil along with the feces of living things. Digging in the beds, touching the sand with your hands, loosening the soil with your fingers, you can easily catch a dangerous pest. If you do not wash your hands thoroughly at home with soap, the disease is guaranteed.
  • Domestic infection is a likely option for getting an infection. The method of transmission is through touching and shaking hands. Handrails in transport, doorknobs in public places, wardrobe numbers and seeds bought in the bazaar from grandmothers become breeding grounds for infection. Money is considered particularly rich in maintaining infection. In one day, a paper bill travels a long way, collecting germs and bacteria from dozens of dirty hands. The prevention instructions are always simple: you must wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water when you come home from the street and before each meal.

Flies, midges and other insects are considered dangerous. Winged insects transfer their eggs to their legs and proboscis, after which they lay the larvae on the food. An insect bite also causes the disease. The most common type of transmission is animal hair. By petting a puppy or a cat on the street, you run the risk of catching an infection. A pinworm egg that has fallen from the fur of a domestic kitten is able to sustain its life for about six months. Dangerous infection easily attacks a person at the first opportunity, is transmitted freely through contact with infected objects.

It is difficult to detect the symptoms of a disease immediately after entering the body. In the early stages, there is no sign of the disease. Parasites need to multiply. The decision to do a special analysis does not immediately rest with the carrier of the infection. Allergic reactions in the body and mild itching in the anus are rarely directly associated with helminthic invasions. If these signs are not eliminated for a long time, and no antihistamines help to eliminate the undesirable consequences of the disease, a laboratory analysis with a high degree of accuracy establishes the presence of worms in the body.

How the disease manifests

The presence of parasites in the body of an adult leads to the manifestation of the following reactions:

  1. Allergic rash. The effectiveness of antihistamines is not always confirmed in practice in the presence of worms. From time to time, unreasonable eczema, hives spots, papillomas, acne and boils appear on the body.
  2. Anemia - iron deficiency develops quickly in the blood of an infected person. By removing anything of value from the host's blood, the worms deplete it, get rid of nutrients and substances.
  3. If you do not know how to get rid of a frequent cough, what to drink against an unpleasant phenomenon, if the best drugstore remedy is powerless and does not give any results, then you may soon need pills from worms. At least, it is worth researching this pathology and passing stools as eggs when an obsessive cough persists for a long time.
  4. Inflammatory process. If you are suddenly attacked by all the woes including pneumonia, rhinitis, bronchitis, and similar illnesses, this should alert you, along with other symptoms listed in this section.
  5. If at home without an enema you cannot go to the bathroom, you should be wary. It is possible that long worms accumulated in the feces are blocking the passage of feces into the intestines. Another reaction is also likely, when the body itself tries to get rid of the poisoning with the help of diarrhea and diarrhea. Loose stools can last from a few days to a month. In this case, the stool has a pronounced viscous character.
  6. The long debate over whether a general decrease in immunity can be considered a feature of the invasion has yet to find an exact answer to the question. But, along with other symptoms, this factor has a legitimate right to exist.
  7. You may not know what the disease looks like, but that doesn't mean that you have been successful in avoiding the infection. Noting the general nervousness which has recently increased, signs of bruxism (pathological grinding of teeth) that appeared in a dream, depressive states of the psyche, look for the eggs of worms. The analysis may show the presence of dangerous symptoms.
  8. Rapid weight loss is considered to be a consequence of the loss of nutrients for the body.
  9. Sensation of bloating, increased gas formation.
  10. The presence of white bubbles in the vestibule of the mouth, inside the lips.
  11. When the tissues are traumatized, which is accompanied by the movement of helminths, joint pain, discomfort in the work of the musculoskeletal system appear.

It is difficult to say how many symptoms should be from the above factors. You shouldn't go to the doctor when you've found multiple matches in a large list. However, if you have more than 5 of them and it is impossible to establish the real reasons for the manifestation of violations, it is worth being wary and consulting with a specialist. It is the doctor who is able to diagnose and determine how to eliminate the worms in a short time, so that you can resume your usual lifestyle.

Symptoms of worms in children

It is not too difficult to determine if children have worms. The presence of diseases such as opisthorchiasis, ascariasis or diphyllobothriasis can be determined by passing a special test. The following symptoms contribute to the diagnosis:

  • Hyperactivity and excessive agitation of the baby. It seems he can't sit still.
  • Itching and burning in the anus. It is difficult for a baby to control himself, and the urge to scratch outweighs the rules of modesty instilled by parents. Obsessive scratching is not hard to notice.
  • Excessive salivation at night, during sleep and on waking.
  • Considering that helminths actively absorb valuable substances and components in the body, an uncontrollable craving for sweets arises in children. Children are asked to give them sweets and all kinds of delicacies in order to fill the "shortage" formed in the body.

As you read reviews on the net, you pay attention to how parents register a strange anomaly in the behavior of their children. Parasites are not found in all situations in the structure of the stool. Worms can be identified by scaly skin on the eyelids, split ends of the hair, brittle marigolds, drowsiness and lethargy, by a general decrease in immunity. After diagnosing at least three of the signs mentioned above, you should see a doctor immediately. The specialist will carry out the necessary research and make an accurate diagnosis.

Helminthic invasion: complications of the disease

Worms eat anything that is valuable in us. By sucking up vitamins and minerals, helminths rob cells of the ability to function normally. During the process of vital activity, parasites secrete antienzymes. This protects them from death inside the human body. Due to the spread of toxic substances in the blood, the carrier manifests bronchial asthma, dermatitis of varying severity and other similar diseases.

Devouring white blood cells, helminths cause irreparable damage to the immune system, destroying and destroying it. Lack of calcium, manganese, iodine, silicon and other important substances - these are all consequences of the life of worms in our body. One of the most common failures that every carrier faces is dysbiosis. Destruction of normal intestinal microflora is a normal condition in the presence of parasitic invasion.

An interesting video seems to show how worms live and reproduce in the human body. Moving along the mucous membranes with the help of suction cups, spikes and hooks, they cause irreparable damage, puncturing their surface, irritating nerve endings. This often leads to necrosis of the mucous membranes and the appearance of internal bleeding. Parasitic microorganisms can have irreparable consequences. Among them are blindness caused by toxocars, migraine caused by roundworms, high blood pressure and epilepsy.

But one of the most serious consequences can be the infection of a pregnant woman with roundworms. Penetrating into the developing embryo, the parasites cause disturbances in the formation of the baby's bronchopulmonary system, intrauterine growth retardation. Since mothers cannot take broad-spectrum antibiotics, and the list of approved drugs is very limited, roundworms find a free environment to reproduce. When a child is born to an infected mother, its height and weight are significantly lower than indicators of a healthy baby.

Methods of diagnosing the disease

To make a diagnosis, you should contact the clinic in your place of residence or a pediatrician at any paid medical establishment. After you have presented the symptoms that are bothering you to your doctor, you will be given a referral for laboratory research. The diagnosis is confirmed by a routine test for worm eggs, for which it is necessary to collect the feces in a specialized container and bring the research material. A situation is possible when the suspicion of parasites is high, but the analysis does not give a positive result. In this case, the study can be duplicated several times in a row.

The method of treating worms - from A to Z

There are many methods of treatment. Among them:

  • drug therapy;
  • time-tested folk remedies and recipes;
  • special anthelmintic devices.

One thing is certain, it is imperative to get rid of the infection, otherwise the damage caused cannot be compensated in any way. The doctor will tell you which medicine to choose and which treatment option to use. Only a qualified specialist can make a decision on exposure methods. The information in this article is for guidance only. If you don't see a professional, the cost of health care can be too high, and the time wasted on self-medication can be incredibly expensive.

Stages of therapy

The question of how to be treated must have an unambiguous answer - comprehensively. It is important to follow the sequence. In the first stage of purification, it is customary to use oils and sorbents. Folk recipes suggest starting with pumpkin oil (flax seeds). Activated charcoal or any other suspension in profile with a similar spectrum of action will help rid the tissues of toxins. You can find out the names of existing drugs from your pharmacist by contacting your nearest pharmacy. It is known that helminths do not tolerate bile, therefore it is recommended to use formulas that stimulate its production.

At the second stage, pills are used, individually selected by a doctor. They are selected according to the specific clinical picture.

Despite the fact that today in the pharmacy you can find almost any drug, it is strongly not recommended to prescribe it yourself. An incorrectly calculated dose and an incorrectly chosen drug can cause irreparable damage to the work of the main systems of life, disrupting their normal functioning.

Enzymes, immunostimulating agents and vitamin and mineral complexes will help stabilize impaired functions after treatment. If allergic reactions are observed, the use of antihistamine formulations is recommended.

Herbal medicine, enemas and diet

Folk recipes recommend the best herbs for getting rid of worms. Among them are knapweed, birch buds, valerian root, zhoster, elecampane. For adult patients, the tincture of wormwood, tansy and St. John's wort is effective. In addition to using herbs, experts advise to adhere to the principles of healthy eating.

During the period of vaccination or the use of strong drugs, it is necessary to adjust the diet, get rid of spicy and salty foods, smoked and fatty foods. Emphasis should be placed on:

  • dairy products;
  • vegetarian diet;
  • herbal ingredients;
  • fruits and vegetables.

Experts advise to eat nuts and garlic every day, to drink a tablespoon of castor oil on an empty stomach in the morning. You need to eat in small portioned portions with a large number of approaches from the table (at least 5-6 times). Among the additional procedures, an enema with a soda solution (10 grams per 1 liter of warm water), as well as room-temperature milk infused with garlic, turned out to be good.

Therapeutic devices

Relatively recently, special devices have appeared on the market. Their principle of operation is based on the use of electromagnetic waves of a certain frequency. The best known are the Zapper and Det devices. However, studies carried out have shown that the effectiveness of the impact of the equipment is only high on adult worms. In addition, the action of the devices has a negative effect on blood cells, destroying their original structure. The use of equipment can have a beneficial effect, but only if the practice of an integrated approach is applied.

In addition to the options listed, other technologies are known. Among them, the expulsion of oxygen from parasites, when their habitat radically modifies its physicochemical data. The main thing is simple - on an empty stomach a small tube is inserted into the stomach, supplying pressurized oxygen to some parts. Tissues and mucous membranes are saturated with oxygen, and helminths leave the host due to unfavorable living conditions. The procedure has no side effects, so it is recommended for adults and children.

Ozone therapy is interesting. With the help of solutions enriched with ozone, microclysters, herbal teas and intravenous preparations are used. The essence of the method is similar to the previous one. Ozone, along with oxygen, blocks the breathing of parasites. As a result, they are forced to leave the body of the carrier of the infection.

Traditional methods and recipes

Almost all folk recipes are taken orally in the morning on an empty stomach. Especially popular are the decoction of bitter wormwood, walnut leaves boiled in boiling water and fresh carrot juice. Traditional healers use pomegranate bark tincture and birch bud extract. The simplest, but no less effective method of therapy is pumpkin seeds. The delicious treat is incredibly effective. It is necessary to click on a healing potion three times a day, at least 100-150 grams in one approach.

Another traditional remedy is herring with onion rings soaked in vegetable oil and lemon juice. But you need to eat the dish on an empty stomach twice a day. You cannot drink it for several hours. Considering the amber that the herring gives off, it is better to stay at home the day you consume the product.