Parasites in the human body - is treatment with folk remedies effective?

Almost all of us have to deal with the manifestations of helminthiasis. This parasite has existed with humans for so long that Hippocrates himself mentioned it in his writings. According to WHO statistics, currently more than five billion people on Earth are 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 traditional treatment, also do not lose their relevance.

About helminths

There are about 250 species of parasites that live in human tissues and organs. All of them are divided into two classes:

1. flatworms (nematodes);
2. roundworms (cestodes and trematodes).

Their size ranges from a few millimeters to 10-12 m Parasites very quickly become sexually mature, 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 if the conditions in which they are located are not the best. Types of organisms affected by parasites, according to their developmental stages:

• the last host in which helminths can develop to the stage of sexual maturity;
• intermediate hosts, where helminths live up to one of their developmental stages.

In the body of the final host, the parasite can complete its full developmental cycle many times and live within it for decades. For many types of parasites, humans can be final or intermediate hosts, just as they can be shellfish, fish, and carnivores. According to the type of biological cycle, cases of parasitic infection are classified as:

1. biohelminthiases - the development of helminths occurs in organisms of various species;
2. geohelminthiasis - helminth eggs spend part of their developmental cycle in the soil, without an intermediate host.

How do parasitic infections occur?

The ways in which helminths enter the human body are very diverse; they depend on social characteristics, natural and climatic factors, and food choices. The main methods of infection with helminths:

• Through dirty hands, contaminated water, poorly processed food.
• When inhaling dust particles containing worm eggs.
• Through the skin.
• After a mosquito bite as an intermediate host (Wuchereria bancrofti).
• When eating contaminated seafood, meat, fish (trematodes).

The dietary habits of some people in the north suggest the consumption of salted fish and raw fish. In this population, the prevalence of trichinosis and echinococcosis is high.

Which organs are affected by helminthiasis?

Helminth damage can be localized in many organs and tissues. The localization of helminths depends on the stage of their development, so the same type of worm at different stages of its existence can be a parasite in different parts of the intestine. Organs affected by helminthiasis:

1. Large intestine - roundworms, pinworms.
2. Duodenum - Strongyloides stercoralis.
3. Lymphatic vessels.
4. Lungs – Paragonimidae.
5. Subcutaneous tissue - Larva migrans.
6. Parasitic helminths in the organs and hollow tissues of the human body.

Depending on the location of the parasite, helminth infections are divided into types:

• tissue (echinococcosis, cysticercosis);
• luminal (taeniasis, enterobiasis, ascariasis).

Some helminths in the larval stage change the tissues of the human body, forming capsules or granules around them (Trichinella, Toxocara). There is a type of helminth that migrates in the larval stage both under the skin of a person and in the tissue of his organs (larva helminths).

Their temporary residence in the human body takes both visceral and skin forms; for them, humans are intermediate hosts.

Clinical manifestations of helminthiasis

Like many other infections, helminthiasis goes through two stages of development: acute and chronic. Their duration:

1. acute stage - from 2-3 weeks to several months;
2. chronic stage - from 2-3 months to several years.

Despite the wide variety of helminths and their localization, acute stage symptoms have common manifestations - these are symptoms of allergies and toxic effects on the human body:

• slight increase in temperature
• muscle pain,
• skin rash,
• limb swelling,
• enlarged lymph nodes,
• dyspepsia,
• enlargement of the spleen and liver,
• damage to the central nervous system.

Laboratory blood tests showed changes in the formula - eosinophilia and a significant increase in the number of leukocytes was diagnosed. The transition of helminthiasis to the chronic stage is marked by symptoms depending on which organ is affected by the parasite, the stage of development of the worms, their number, and diversity. In the chronic stage of helminthiasis, the following symptoms are diagnosed:

1. dyspepsia and intestinal pain,
2. intestinal obstruction,
3. colitis in hemorrhagic form,
4. anemia,
5. avitaminosis,
6. sudden weight loss,
7. obstructive jaundice, hepatitis (with liver damage),
8. loss of some functions of the central nervous system (when the parasite is localized in the brain),
9. inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs (with the migration of pinworms into the vagina),
10. stomach and intestinal ulcers (with chronic strongyloidiasis),
11. damage to muscle tissue, granuloma formation in brain capillaries (with severe trichinosis),
12. damage to the lymphatic system (caused by infection with nematodes).

With helminthiases caused by echinococci, not only liver cysts are formed, but bone tissue may be damaged by parasites. This makes the bones brittle and creates an additional risk of fractures. Damage to the human body by Dirofilaria repens larvae occurs in the form of the formation of subcutaneous nodes containing parasites. These nodes are able to move through the thickness of the skin and mucous membranes.

By analyzing the symptoms of helminthiasis, one can be sure that there is no stable clinical picture of this disease or clear specific signs.

Diagnosis of parasite infestation

If an accurate diagnosis is not made in time, you may miss the time when treatment may be most effective.

The transition of helminthiasis from an acute stage to a chronic form often masks the true cause of the disease.

Infection with parasites can be mistaken for symptoms of a completely different disease. It is very important not to self-medicate, but to seek medical help from an infectious disease specialist or parasitologist. His arsenal includes several modern methods for diagnosing parasitic infestations:

• laboratory examination of feces, bile, sputum, blood, urine, rectal and anal mucus scraping, duodenal contents for the detection of 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 test can reveal the presence of parasites even in the early stages of infection.

Treatment of parasitic infections with traditional methods

Based on the diagnostic results, the doctor prescribes anthelmintic therapy and the time of control studies after treatment.

All expert recommendations should be followed carefully to avoid complications.

It is unnecessary to remind you to observe preventive hygiene measures that will prevent parasites from infecting family members and secondary infections.

Supporters of the use of traditional recipes should remember that the use of these drugs is an additional method that does not replace drug treatment.

Like drugs, traditional medicine has contraindications and side effects. That is why it is worth discussing this method with your doctor before using it. Home treatment:

• Eat peeled pumpkin seeds for 2 weeks, keeping the thin green skin on the seeds.
• A decoction of the skin is removed from one pomegranate in 3/4 tbsp. boiling water This medicine is drunk on an empty stomach, this must be done an hour and a half before, dividing the decoction into three doses. After a few hours, be sure to stimulate the stool with any laxative.
• An enema with freshly squeezed carrot juice (40 ml) should be done every day for 7 days.
• Regular use of garlic and preparations containing it.
• Inserting a whole clove of garlic into the rectum (against enterobiasis).
• Take freshly prepared garlic juice (10-15 ml) with warm milk (1 glass), drink the mixture on an empty stomach, repeat the intake 1-2 times during the day.
• Soak 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 tablespoon. l. Before each meal, the infusion must be washed. Effective for giardiasis.
• An enema with garlic gruel, taken just before bed, is effective against pinworms and tapeworms. Enema solution: stir 1 teaspoon in a glass of water. finely chopped garlic. Do it regularly throughout the week.
• Boil 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp. milk, 1 tbsp. l. dried tansy flowers are administered as an enema. The enema mixture should be boiled for about 10 minutes. Do it 7 times, the effect of the treatment can be consolidated by repeating the course after a ten-day break.

Herbs and fees:

1. 1 teaspoon. dry wormwood, pour 400 ml (2 tablespoons) of boiling water, strain and cool, take an infusion of 1-2 tablespoons. l. three times a day before each meal. Effective against ascariasis and enterobiasis.
2. Add tansy (1 tablespoon of dried flowers) and 0. 5 liters of boiling water for 3 hours and give as an enema into the rectum before going to bed. This product is contraindicated for pregnant women and children.
3. Infusion for half an hour from 4 tablespoons. l. unripe walnuts and a glass of salted boiling water, filtered and taken simultaneously with laxatives. Effective against tapeworms, ascariasis, enterobiasis.
4. 1 tablespoon. l. Pour 200 ml of boiling water over the tansy flowers and strain the infusion after an hour. The frequency of entry is standard - Art. l. 20 minutes before eating. Therefore, you need to be treated for 2-3 days, finish taking the infusion with a laxative.
5. Boil 1 kg of sorrel and 1 liter of boiling water for 2 hours (it is better to do this in a water bath), strain, and a few spoons of sugar should be added to it. The amount of the final product is 1 glass of decoction, it should be drunk 1-2 sips a day before meals.

Helminthiasis is a complex infection with a multicomponent clinical picture. They can cause serious complications and cause irreversible harm to human health.

It is not acceptable to self-medicate when infected with parasites. Traditional recipes should be used very carefully, only as an assistant to accompany drug therapy.