Worms and Parasites that Bug Us

• Are you sick and tired of feeling tired and run-down?
  

  Tapeworm Cestoda Gravid Proglottid TS

• Are you suffering from food, chemical or environmental sensitivities and can’t understand why these symptoms are suddenly plaguing you?
• Do you find it difficult to lose or gain weight?
• Are you constipated: do you feel bloated or have recurrent diarrhoea?
• Are you lethargic and notice your thinking is a bit slower than it used to be, or do you just feel a bit dull or depressed?
• Have you been on the very restrictive Candida diet for months and still not 100% well?

You may be harbouring a parasite or two or even dozens! Parasites – worms – bacteria’s are the silent hidden enemy of the human body. To make it more interesting it is a well-known fact that people who live in colder climates tend to suffer from respiratory type diseases such as bronchitis etc and those who live in hotter climates are affected more by parasitic conditions.

A parasite is an organism that lives off its host, its sole purpose being to survive and reproduce. They are not at all fussy about whom their host is and certainly not fussy about whose body they live in. If you aren’t worming yourself with an herbal or homeopathic remedy every three months then it is safe to say that you probably will have worms.

Parasites can cause enormous problems in our body – stealing precious vitamins and minerals, releasing toxins into your system and causing dysbiosis in your gut, they can perforate our intestines, move throughout our body into the circulatory system, through the lungs, liver, bile ducts, joints, heart, into the brain or the eyes. No part of your body is immune to these freeloaders.

These bugs come to us via inhalation, ingestion from contaminated food and water, from handling raw meat or fish, from handling our pets, from fleas and other insects, through our skin or via sexual contact. These freeloaders are not needed by our body as certain types of good bacteria are and mostly you may be totally unaware of your uninvited guests. Some of them may have been dwelling within you for a long time. The body continually works towards a state of homeostasis and so adapts as much as it possibly can. Providing the infestation is small, you may not have symptoms at all. However, this does not mean that your freeloaders are not causing stress on your body and keeping you from being vibrantly healthy.

However should your body be further compromised by excessive stress, infection or any other health challenges the terrain of the tissue and blood starts to change often affecting the efficiency of the immune system. This subtle alteration makes it easier for the parasites to breed and more difficult to destroy. Its can be compared to the scenario “A clean rubbish bin attract few flies and they usually don’t stay, but a dirty rubbish bin attracts flies to it to build a home and lay eggs”.

There are several hundred parasites that happily invade and exist in the human body. They range in size from microscopic unseen up to 40-foot long tapeworms. It is possible to experience no symptoms from these invasions or vague type symptoms, such as headaches, stomach cramps, flatulence or loose bowel motions, body aches and pain, or symptoms you would never relate to parasites infections such as arthritis, heart disease, irritable bowel, colitis or pneumonia.

The range of symptoms that parasites can give us is quite astounding. In our clinic I see the positive results of treating parasites all the time.

Possible signs & symptoms of worm & parasite infestations:

One of the most common parasites in the world and the females can release up to 200,000 eggs per day. They live predominately in the small intestine, but can move into the stomach, up the oesophagus, even into the mouth, to the liver, gallbladder and even the pancreas small and large bowel. Roundworms are easy to acquire and their eggs live up to 5 years in the right soil conditions. They can be ingested from vegetables and fruits that have been grown in the infected soil. The eggs can also be airborne, which means you can inhale them. Children are particularly at risk, as they tend to play in and even eat the dirt.

Most of us have experienced this worm. This parasite is extremely common, particularly in children. The female worm lays between 5,000 – 20,000 eggs per day in the anus. The eggs can hatch and within a few hours have laid eggs of their own. Reinfection is very common as the anal area becomes quite itchy and when the area is scratched, the eggs attach to the skin or under the nails and thus the hand to mouth contact is almost unavoidable. In a family usually all members will be infected with the pinworm and even if there are no obvious symptoms the whole family should be treated at the same time. This parasite is very difficult to control, as reinfestation can occur very quickly.

After the pinworm and the roundworm this is the next most abundant parasite to be found in the human body. Up to 100 of these worms can live in our gut without obvious symptoms; however infestations above that number can cause problems including the mimicking of inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel disease. These eggs are usually consumed in food, mainly vegetables or fruits, or water. The adult worms (takes 90 days) have been found embedded in the mucosa of the colon all the way to the rectum.

Infection is through oral ingestion or through the skin, usually of the feet, legs or hands. The larvae travel through the body, first via the lymphatic system, then to the right side of the heart, then entering the lung via the pulmonary artery, from where they are coughed up and swallowed. AT this stage a dry cough and sore throat may be experienced.

This is the intestinal roundworm that resides in cats and dogs. Unfortunately humans can pick it up and children are at particular risk from contact with contaminated soil etc. Eggs ingested hatch in the small intestine and larvae can penetrate the intestinal mucosa and migrate to different areas in the body. Infection with the larvae can result in pneumonitis, hepatosplenomegaly, eosinophil and retinitis. This parasite has been known to lodge in the retina and can lead to blindness. It is very important to keep dogs regularly treated for worms, because in the human body this parasite can cause serious problems.

A parasite that is usually associated with cats. It can also be found in meats and is ingested alive if the meat is undercooked. Cockroaches and flies can be carrier and contaminate food and cooking utensils. Another mode of transmission is through physical contact with cat faeces during cleaning of litter trays. In the healthy person the immune system can generally overcome the organism and develop resistance but in the immunocompromised person it can cause severe problems.

This is a very common parasite and probably many of us will have taste of it during our lifetime. Infection is from cyst-contaminated water or food or hand-to-mouth contamination. Infection with this parasite causes severe intestinal disorders. Severe diarrhoea leading to dehydration can occur, as can malabsorption.

Humans are the definitive host of both these tapeworms. This means that the reproductive cycle occurs only within our body.  Tapeworms can be ingested with cured or undercooked pork as well as handling raw pork meat.

Cats can also harbour dog tapeworm. It is commonly found in children due to their close contact with animals. Human infection occurs through ingestion of the dog louse, from fleas that contain the larvae of the tapeworm, through not washing hands thoroughly after touching a dog or allowing the dog to lick your face or hands after it has been contaminated with the eggs.

It is ingested in raw or undercooked fish that contain the larvae or through handling raw fish and not washing hands thoroughly. It generally doesn’t cause too many problems, but its presence may be indicated by hypoglycaemia as it has a passion for B12, which can cause deficiency and lead to anaemia. Becoming infected by this parasite is becoming increasingly common as the population is eating more raw fish including smoked or pickled.

These are just a few of the parasites to which we humans play host. The big question is how can we avoid them? Unfortunately no matter what you do you will not avoid them completely. The best we can do is to keep our immune system and digestive system as strong and healthy as possible and treat our bodies for parasites with herbal or homeopathic remedies on a regular basis approximately every 3 months. These type of remedies should be taken over a monthly period that allow all areas of the body to be cleansed as well as taking care of eggs that have not yet hatched.  Do a parasite cleanse even if you think you don’t have worms, because there is a good chance you probably do and it’s a great step in wellness protection. A regular naturopathic check up will help detect the possible invasion of parasites and worms that could adversely affected your health. Your health is your responsibility.

This article is not original – it has been changed and updated and we give thanks to the original author. (unknown)