For worms, the human body is an ideal habitat. Helminths slowly but surely poison the body. Depending on their type and life cycle, they settle in different human organs and cause various symptoms. For example, many people believe that increased appetite and weight loss are a sure sign of helminthic invasion, is this really so?
Both bad and good appetite can indicate the presence of parasites in the body. For example, if a person becomes infected with them, then he may have attacks of nausea, weakness and loss of appetite. Manifestations of helminthic invasion are so diverse that physicians do not always manage to immediately understand what a person is sick. As a rule, they depend on the affected organ, if parasites settle in the lungs, then the person will suffer from coughing, and if in the intestine, then from constipation or diarrhea.
But not always the appetite of worms increases, there are cases when a person suffers from obesity, but in his body still a lot of parasites. If the patient normally eats, then enough food for him and helminths, his weight will not change.
Types of worms and their effect on the appetite
There are about 300 species of worms that can appear in the human body. Unfortunately, there is no such drug that would be disastrous for all types, so to get rid of them you need to undergo a survey. Symptoms of the disease also depend on the variety of parasites. Consider the common species and their effect on human appetite:
- Ascaris. This type of parasites is quite common especially in children. As soon as they find themselves in the stomach of a person, they begin their journey through the body with a current of blood. In this period there may be no signs of illness. If the worm enters the lumen of the intestine, then symptoms such as weakness, irritability, increased appetite may appear. The ascarid glistens cause such an organism reaction, because they poison it with the products of their metabolism. The increased appetite from helminths arises from the lack of useful substances in the body, because people have to feed not only themselves, but whole hordes of parasites.
- Pinworms. They are found in both children and adults. Pinworm, getting into the duodenum, begins to multiply actively and as a result consumes most of the nutrients that enter the intestine. These parasites cause severe itching, weight loss, and also have a negative effect on the immune system.
- Opisthorchiasis. Such worms for a person are very dangerous, prolonged stay can cause malignant formation, because the process of their life has a carcinogenic effect on the body. As a rule, parasites settle in the liver, as well as in the bile ducts, so the symptoms can be like inflammation of these organs. A person may experience nausea, weakness, vomiting, and poor appetite.
- Bovine tapeworm. A person becomes infected from cattle. Such worms live in the human intestine and reach large sizes. The patient has an increased appetite against weight loss, in addition there is diarrhea, constipation, as well as anemia. In a pregnant woman, such worms can provoke miscarriage and premature birth.
Improving or worsening appetite can indicate a variety of diseases, sometimes such signs indicate the presence of worms in the body. Parasites can live in different organs, not only in the intestine, that is why when there is no special symptoms in the worm infestation, a diagnosis should be performed for the diagnosis.