About 80% of the world's population is infected with various poisons. It is often necessary to treat a disease for a long time and without success, the real cause of which are parasites. Worms that can live in a person violate the integrity of the walls of blood vessels, block the intestinal lumen and damage internal organs. They produce toxic substances that enter the bloodstream.
What worms do humans have?
Helminths live in the gut or parasitize, inhabiting any other organ. There are several types of them, the most common being nematodes. Their body is elongated, transversely - round, shaped, narrow at the edges. Infection occurs most often:
- roundworms, trichomes, placement in the small intestine and other organs;
- whipworms that live in the colon and feed on blood and mucus;
- sharp worms that accumulate in the colon and large intestine.
In addition to those listed, there are more than a hundred less common parasites that inhabit different parts of the gut. For example, worms in humans like the wild worm and the round worm are in a thin segment, the thick section is often blocked by worms. People become hosts of adult straps with a long flat body. Large bovine and porcine tapeworms, cestodes, echinococci settle in the intestines.
Fluke worms have suckers on their bodies ranging in length from a few millimeters (Siberian flute) to 7 cm (fashiola). The parasites are passed on to humans as a result of consuming raw fish, with raw water. Sometimes worm infection occurs through the skin while swimming in lakes, rivers (schistosomes). Once placed, they can feel good in various human organs for several years.
Infection Methods
The ways in which different types of worms are introduced are different. The main method of parasite infection is fecal-oral. Accompanied by the penetration of helminths along with food and water. People simply swallow invisible organisms when they forget to wash their hands before eating. Worms in the feces are rarely seen with the naked eye. But the flies that surround the feces always lay their eggs. If the insect sits on a piece of food, then the chances of infection increase significantly.
Worms in humans appear after working without gloves with soil, sand. In the latter case, young children are more likely to suffer from parasites, for whom the sandbox is a favorite place to play. On the surface of the earth, helminths fall along with animal feces - cats, dogs, livestock and are carried by flies. They penetrate the human body through unwashed hands, micro-damage to the skin, insufficiently processed vegetables. Inhalation of street dust saturated with highly persistent larvae can also become infected.
Another factor that contributes to the appearance of worms is the use of poor quality water. Highly it is highly undesirable to swallow the liquid while swimming in the sea, river or lake. It contains a large number of parasites from the feces of fish, waterfowl, pets. Human consumption of raw fish, meat threatens that infection will occur and parasites - bovine, swine tapeworm, tapeworm - will settle in the body. In medical reference books, there are pictures of worms, the length of which reaches several meters.
Symptoms and signs of helminthic invasion
Becoming a host of parasites, people start to lose weight fast, feel exhausted, look pale. Indicate the presence of worms:
- body aches;
- painful sensations in the joints;
- general weakness;
- loss of appetite;
- diarrhea or constipation;
- mixed periods.
But to ensure that helminths are present in the body, it is necessary to undergo an examination. This will help identify worms in the stool or specific antibodies in the blood.
Symptoms are worse in the absence of timely treatment. Depending on which worms predominate in the body, their collection sites will vary in signs of disease. Gallbladder stasis occurs when ducts are blocked by parasites. A person feels heaviness and soreness in the right hypochondrium, soreness in the mouth. Periodically tortured by mixed periods, constipation.
Many worms secrete substances that irritate the intestinal wall - diarrhea occurs, in which the stools are diluted with water, foaming. In addition, the patient has increased gas production, strong rumble in the abdomen, umbilical pain.
Worms, once in the human body, are able to migrate. Their progress is accompanied by severe pain. Most often, a patient with helminthiasis thinks he has an exacerbation of arthritis. In fact, the unpleasant sensations with worms are the body's reaction to tissue damage.
A person experiences a state of apathy, he has a deterioration in the ability to concentrate, memory problems. This happens if parasites are present in the body for a long time. There is an unusual allergy before, intolerance to the body of some products. Worms are to blame for skin problems. Most common:
- acne, acne all over the body;
- urticaria, atopic dermatitis, eczema;
- wrinkle formation too early;
- hair loss, bald patches.
The most common rhinitis, bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia can be caused by the migration of worms into the bloodstream. Sometimes parasites settle in the lungs, lay eggs there, which mature and turn into full-fledged individuals. In X-ray images, scans taken after tomography, the worms look like focal darkening of a round or oval shape.
Release of toxic waste products from helminths into the bloodstream makes people complain:
- constant anxiety, irritability;
- depression;
- insomnia.
Both overweight and underweight are common symptoms of worms. Digestive problems, intoxication lead to poor appetite. A person loses body weight. Prolonged presence of parasites is the reason for a decrease in blood glucose levels and a constant feeling of hunger. At the cellular level, there is a lack of nutrients, which is compensated by the accumulation of adipose tissue.
Drug therapy
Treatment of helminthiasis without prior consultation with a specialist is not recommended for several reasons. The first is that even after passing stool for analysis several times, it is not always possible to identify parasites. To determine exactly what type of worms have settled in a person, you will need to do a more detailed examination, including:
- general leukoform blood test;
- biochemical blood test (liver function tests);
- analysis of feces and rectal mucus.
Sometimes, to detect worms that have infected the body, it is necessary to examine the gallbladder, saliva and small parts of the skin.
is a suspicious enterprise to independently treat worms in an adult or a child. Pharmacological preparations are quite toxic. At the same time, many of them have an action directed against a particular species, without affecting others.
If, according to the test results, worms were detected in a person's stool or the presence of parasites was confirmed by other diagnostic procedures, the infectious disease doctor selects the most effective medicine. The doctor prescribing the pills should indicate exactly how many times the medicine and its dose will need to be taken, based on the patient's weight. The treatment of worms is performed:
- Albendazole;
- Paraziquantel;
- Medamin;
- Mebendazole;
- Pirantel.
The procedure to get rid of worms is supplemented with drugs that remove intoxication (sorbents), antiallergic drugs, vitamins.
Preventive measures
Given that worms are very easily transmitted by animals or an infected person, every effort should be made to prevent their occurrence. To do this, you must strictly adhere to hygiene. An important factor of protection against worms is the correct preparation of the products from which the food is prepared.
Doctors recommend an annual prophylactic procedure for clearing worms in spring and autumn. Even if there are no obvious symptoms of infection in a person. To achieve its maximum effectiveness, it is taken if all family members take the medicine recommended by the doctor. Most parasites are so small that you can only see one picture of the eggs of some worm, made through a powerful microscope when examining feces, another biomaterial.