Worms can live in the human body for a long time without showing any signs of their presence. The main symptoms of parasitic infection appear much later, although they often resemble the symptoms of other diseases. A person can search for the cause of his illness for a long time and be treated for a completely different illness, although the solution to the problem lies in worm infection.
Parasites are usually suspected in later stages, when treatment for other diseases does not help. At this point, the worms in the body reach maturity and are more difficult to eliminate. It is important to be able to recognize symptoms as soon as they appear and to make an immediate diagnosis to know if the parasitic infection is responsible for the frequent allergic rashes and other unpleasant diseases.
What kinds of worms can a person have?
Worms are a common name for various parasites. There are around a hundred of them in total, of which a small group of the most common representatives is distinguished, which must be mentioned separately.
Pinworms
Pinworms are the most common type of helminth infestation affecting adults and children. Its presence is the easiest to determine. This type of worm lays eggs on the skin between the buttocks. Therefore, a scraping is usually sufficient to determine the presence of pinworms.
Intestinal worm
The "target" of ascaris is the respiratory tract. With ascariasis, copious sputum is released when coughing. If you take it for analysis, you may find traces of parasitic damage on it. Body temperature is also likely to rise.
Trichinella
These parasites are the most difficult to detect: they adhere to the intestinal wall and do not come out as intestinal worms. Trichinosis has the highest mortality rate among all types of helminthic lesions; this is a difficult disease to treat. With the flow of lymph, Trichinella capsules can spread throughout the body.
The symptoms of this lesion are more like typhoid fever.
Trematodes
Flukes are flatworms that affect the liver, lungs, and blood. The infection usually occurs while in contaminated water or eating undercooked meat.
There are other types of helminthic lesions, but they are not as dangerous or widespread. The main symptoms and treatment of all helminthic invasions are similar.
Symptoms
Symptoms of helminthic lesions are varied. If most of them are present, it is worth thinking about the probable parasitic invasion and diagnosis.
- Bloating, increased gas production, any other problems with the work of the large intestine.
- Frequent constipation or diarrhea. It depends on the stage of development of the parasites. Constipation occurs when worm samples become enlarged and block the passage of the intestines with clots. Diarrhea indicates that long individuals interfere with bile secretion.
- Allergic reactions. Especially notable if the person is not allergic. Allergies can manifest themselves in different ways: rashes, eczema, the appearance of boils and papillomas.
- Cough. Often dry, with no other cold symptoms. Cough suppressants and antibiotics do not solve the problem.
- Inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system. The worms can migrate through the body and reach the respiratory tract. This can lead to bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma.
- Itching in the anal area. Associated with the release of parasites for egg laying. It appears mainly at night.
- Joint and muscle painThey also appear due to the movement of parasites through the body.
- Grinding teeth - bruxism. It is associated with increased activity of the nervous system during parasitic infection. It appears during sleep.
- Chronic fatigue and a condition that resembles depression. The waste products of worms literally poison the body, which leads to a deterioration in the well-being of a person in general.
- All manifestations of reduced immunity, frequent colds. It can be difficult to heal quickly.
If most of these symptoms are observed, the probability that worms will appear is high. It's best to run a series of diagnostic tests right away to confirm or disprove this assumption.
Important! Any of these symptoms should be referred to a specialist immediately. These signs can speak not only of helminthic lesions, but also of other serious diseases.
Diagnosis
When worms are affected, the diagnosis cannot be made solely by the presence of symptoms. Several studies need to be done. Some of them give almost 100% accurate results.
- Various microscopic examinations of feces and scrapes. These methods are the cheapest and most common, but they do not give a 100% reliable result. It is possible to recognize worms using these tests only at the time of laying eggs, otherwise their presence will be invisible.
- ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. This method gives an extremely accurate result, helps to determine the stage of development of worms and their type. The only downside to this analysis is the high cost of its performance.
- Hemoscanning. This method can help to refute or confirm the presence of worms in the body. With this blood test the traces of its vital activity and intoxication will be noticed. The essence of this method is in the study of "live" blood drawn at this time.
Important! Usually, it is recommended to go through several studies to confirm the result.
What doctor are you treating?
With a suspected helminthic invasion, it is best to contact a regular therapist and describe the situation. If the tests for the presence of parasites have already been carried out independently, you should take them with you.
The therapist will refer you to the doctor who is most appropriate in the specific situation. If the worms are concentrated in the gastrointestinal tract, a specialist will issue a referral to a gastroenterologist. This happens in most cases, since most of the parasites live in the intestines.
In some cases, consultation with a parasitologist or a specialist in parasitic diseases is required. But these narrow-profile doctors are far from everywhere, therefore situations that do not go beyond the scope of a typical infection are completely subject to the treating physician.
Home therapy
Immediately after detection of the disease, treatment should be started. Most anthelmintic medications have many side effects, so they are recommended to be taken under the supervision of your doctor.
The drugs are different, depending on the type of worm that infects the body. In general, all drugs can be divided into several groups.
- Nematode medications, including roundworms and roundworms.
- Tapeworm Remedies: Tapeworms, which include bovine tapeworm, small tapeworm, echinococcus.
- Medications for flukes, flatworms.
Important! It should be remembered that anthelmintic drugs are very toxic, they should be taken with caution.
Take medications for prophylaxis.
Since taking anthelmintic drugs has a large number of negative effects, it is not recommended to take them like this, for preventive purposes, if there is no increased risk of infection. Infection can happen any day - if you take a pill today, you can get sick tomorrow.
There is a small list of indications for taking prophylactic drugs against worms:
- The appearance of worms in a relative or in a person who lives in the same apartment. One can infect the rest, therefore, if helminths are found in one of the family members, it is recommended that all the others take prophylactic anthelmintic drugs.
- If a child goes to kindergarten, he, his parents, brothers or sisters are also advised to take anthelmintic drugs for prevention. It is believed that in a closed group of children there is a greater danger of the spread of parasites.
- Pets. If there are cats or dogs in the house, especially if they are usually on the street, owners are advised to carry out prophylaxis with antiparasitic drugs.
- Contact with the ground, working with it. Especially for summer residents and wildlife lovers.
- Constant travel to exotic countries. There is a high probability of bringing a rare parasite from southern countries, then the treatment will be complicated by the inability to quickly determine its type.
- Hobbies for wildlife. These include hiking, fishing, hunting.
Only in these cases is the prophylactic administration of anthelmintics permissible and beneficial.
Treatment with home remedies.
Popular antiparasitic drugs often come to the aid of worm pills. You must be careful with them, some of them are dangerous or can be harmful if abused.
Intestinal cleansing
Sometimes intestinal cleansing with enemas is recommended after taking anthelmintics to literally kill the dying parasites. The rationality of this method is questionable, but the usual water enema is not dangerous; it can be done for your own peace of mind.
Some people recommend taking an enema with baking soda or salt; This method is even more controversial. Soda and salt can burn the mucous membrane and unbalance the water balance, so you should not use them. Also, most parasites live in a different part of the intestine. This method should be postponed as a last resort.
Garlic treatment
Worms are known to fear hot and spicy foods. Therefore, during the treatment, you can add more garlic to the diet as a seasoning. You can also eat several cloves in the morning with a glass of milk. Then you need to empty your intestines and eat breakfast. You can do it without milk, it is just that this product facilitates the intake of garlic.
The introduction of tampons soaked in garlic juice into the anus is not recommended. It can cause allergies and burns.
Pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin seeds are another effective folk remedy for treating and preventing parasitic diseases. There are several methods to take them to fight worms.
On an empty stomach, every morning you need to eat a couple of tablespoons of pumpkin seeds. Then you have to wait about an hour and empty the intestines. If this cannot be done, you must take a laxative. Then you can have breakfast.
For the second method, you need to mix a glass of ground roasted pumpkin seeds with a glass of honey and a tablespoon of baking soda. Infuse this mixture for about ten days in a dark place. Use only glassware. The prepared mixture should be consumed on a spoon every morning, well before meals.
Important! If you are allergic to folk remedies, you should abandon them.
Prophylaxis
The main prevention of parasitic diseases is to keep the body and the home clean. After using the bathroom, coming from the street, you should wash your hands well with soap and water. You cannot share towels, toothbrushes, combs with other people, even if they are family members.
Meat and fish should be rinsed before cooking and cooked thoroughly. Wash fruits and vegetables well, preferably pour boiling water over them before use.
It is not worth taking anthelmintic drugs for prevention, but periodically you can rely more on spicy food, garlic. For the same purpose, pumpkin seeds can be introduced into the diet.
Knowing all the possible symptoms and manifestations of parasitic diseases, they can be detected at an early stage, after which they can be cured quickly and painlessly.