Often people are interested in such an infectious disease as helminthiosis. This, according to medical terminology, infection with parasitic worms. Scientifically they are called helminths, worms and helminths are one and the same thing. Their habitat is not only the human body, but also plants or animals. Millions of people around the world are exposed to them every year. In modern medicine, several hundred species of these worms stand out. The harm inflicted on them by an adult patient or child can be both insignificant, expressed in inconvenience and discomfort, and very serious, in some cases threatening not only the health, but also the life of the patient.
The problem of the prevalence of various types of worms among certain types of the population can be very large: children of different age groups most often suffer from pinworms, fishermen and fish lovers can often find such a disease as diphyllobothriosis, and in hunters - trichinosis. To date, there are numerous research evidence that many diseases seemingly at first glance completely unrelated to the presence in the body of helminths, arise due to or against the background of helminthic invasion. This theory has the greatest urgency in relation to parasitology and oncology.
Human worms - photo and description
It's quite simple to suspect that our organism colonized some kind of parasites. In an adult, chronic worms become aggravated from the worms, and for no apparent reason there is a feeling of fatigue and apathy that does not pass for a long time. In most cases, the reason for this is quite simple. Worms - parasites - settled in the body. These harmful cohabitants are of different types, and their classification is carried out in the form: flat, tape and round. Glistovye infestations in their clinical manifestations depend on what kind of helminth has settled in the body. All of them are divided into 3 classes depending on the appearance and structure. Even just looking at the photo you can see their differences, and also think about how to get rid of them faster, or what preventive measures to take to prevent their possible appearance. According to the descriptions, the following classes of worms are distinguished:
- Round worms, in the scientific nematode. If you look at their photos, you can immediately see why this class received such a name. The main feature of their structure is a round, non-segmented body. The most famous, most common types of worms from this class are ascarids and pinworms. Also among the nematodes there are very dangerous helminths - withered and trichina. Infecting them can not only lead to major health problems, but also the death of the host;
- Tape worms, or, scientifically, cestodes. Their photo also speaks for itself: the peculiarity of their structure is that they have the appearance of a thin ribbon with a length of several centimeters to tens of meters. The most known worms of this type are wide ribbons, bovine and pork chain, echinococcus. The danger is that they absorb nutrients from the body with the entire surface of the body, which very quickly leads to severe exhaustion. Significant harm to the owner is caused not only by sexually mature individuals, but also by larvae;
- Flukes, as well as tapeworms, are of the type of flat helminths, such as the liver flukes, which are quite dangerous for the health of the host. Proceeding from their description, it can be understood that adult specimens of this type of worms with the help of special suckers, clearly visible in the photo, protect the epithelium of internal organs( liver, bile ducts, etc.), "suck in".As a result, blood circulation is disturbed in the damaged tissues and inflammation develops, leading to necrosis.
Also all worms parasitizing in the human body are subdivided by location in the body into tissue helminths, adult individuals and larvae that live and develop in the subcutaneous fat and tissues of the body and the lumens that occupied the hollow organs. But regardless of the habitat in the body, these parasitic worms bring at least an adult, even a child, many problems. If there is even the slightest suspicion of their presence, you should immediately go through the necessary diagnostic tests and take all measures to get rid of such cohabitants.
Causes of the appearance of helminths in humans
Infecting with helminthiasis, which is the same as helminth infestation, both to a child and an adult can be easily done almost everywhere. There are several ways of getting parasites into our body:
- Alimentary - through dirty hands, poorly washed fruit and berries, contaminated water or food;
- Contact-household. The source of infection with worms are domestic animals, sick people and household items;
- Active, or, scientifically, percutaneous. In this case, the helminth larva penetrates the body through the skin when swimming in open reservoirs or contacting mucous membranes with infected soil;
- Transmissible. The penetration of parasites into the body occurs through bloodsucking insects.
Most people infected with helminthic infection are those with weak immunity. Helminths simply do not survive and do not begin to multiply in a strong organism. A great danger is also the move to a new locality, where there are parasites to which a person is unaccustomed.
Symptoms of helminthic invasion
Most people, sadly, do not even suspect that they are infected with helminths, which is the same thing as worms. The problem is that swallowing the eggs of the parasites is very simple. They can be in large numbers on seemingly clean food. Also, many types of parasitic worms settle in humans after getting there from pets, through dirty hands or poorly processed food. Often a person does not even have a suspicion that someone else lives in his body, since many species of worms do not manifest themselves at all for quite a long time. The following symptomatology should be cautious, according to the description of the features of which the physician will determine the presence in the body of a certain species of helminths:
- Difficulties of the act of defecation. They occur when clumps of parasites in the intestinal cavity accumulate. If they are long, the bile will be blocked. Such a condition has such clinical signs as persistent bloating, constipation, or diarrhea;
- Frequent cough, which is not amenable to treatment with traditional medicines, and the symptoms of inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract that constantly appear in a person;
- On the presence of worms in the body, and gnashing in the dream teeth. It appears due to increased activity of the nervous system;
- Arthritic pains caused by the movement of parasites through the body and the traumatization of tissues can be present.
These features of health disorders are quite alarming signs, indicating a possible parasitic infestation of a person.
Infectious diseases - helminthiases and their diagnosis
Helminthiases have a large number of different manifestations, which is why when diagnosing worms in an adult or child, special attention is given to describing the patient's concomitant symptoms. Based on this, the doctor can presumably determine the type of resident parasite and the cause of infectious infection by them. Further specialized studies are carried out to clarify or disprove the information received from the patient:
- Stool analysis is effective for detecting the most common types of worms that live in the digestive organs( pinworms, lamblia, ascarids, etc.).In the biological material taken for the study, it is possible to detect both eggs and larvae of worms, as well as whole sexually mature specimens or fragments of their bodies;
- The study of duodenal contents and bile reveals worms located in the liver, gall bladder or duodenum;
- With the help of laboratory analysis of blood it is possible to detect the presence of larvae of the filaria;
- Muscle tissue biopsy is performed in case of suspicion of trichinosis, parasitic lesion of muscle tissue;
- When serological testing of blood serum the specialist can determine the presence of specific antibodies that indicate the presence of such types of infectious helminthic invasions as cysticercosis, alveococcosis, echinococcosis, ascariasis and other types of helminthiases in which parasites move( migrate) in the human body;
- Computer tomography, PEGS, ultrasound imaging can detect the extent of damage caused by worms, determine the characteristics of damage or changes in the state of individual organs.
Thanks to the combination of these studies, it is possible to determine with the greatest accuracy which type of parasites colonized the human body, and, accordingly, to select the most appropriate treatment that allows to permanently rid the patient of this infectious pathology.
Human gliast invasion, treatment
What to do with all this "zoo", brazenly feeding the resources of our organisms? Getting rid of these infectious parasites is quite a challenge. Despite the fact that many people practice home methods, like enemas and tinctures, they mostly do not bring the expected result. Worm therapy should be performed not only with special preparations of directed action against parasites of a certain species and with certain characteristics. It is also necessary to take enzymes, vitamins and drugs that increase immunity. In addition, specialists always prescribe such drugs that improve the choleretic and intestinal motility.
It should be noted that the treatment is cyclical. Re-examination for the presence of worms is carried out 1,5-2 months after the therapeutic course. The onions, garlic and pumpkin seeds used for this purpose are a good tool in the fight against parasites. Also, during personal care activities, special attention should be paid to personal hygiene:
- The underwear should be changed at least 2 times a day;
- Bedding is boiled and ironed on 2 sides;
- It should also be washed at least twice a day, and then the hands are washed with soap and soap;
- To comb itching places in the anal area is strictly not recommended.
In addition, when in the apartment of a patient with helminthiasis, daily wet cleaning with the use of detergents is necessary. Rags used for it are necessarily discarded.
Prevention of worms in humans
To avoid the need for unpleasant and prolonged treatment from parasites that have settled the body, simple precautions should be observed. Thanks to this, you can avoid the long-term disrupted lifestyle of all family members:
- In order to prevent possible infection with worms, after each contact with people or animals, it is necessary to wash hands with antibacterial soap;
- All vegetables and fruits must be thoroughly treated with hot water before use. Meat and fish must be purchased only in safe places and be thermally processed during cooking;
- Water for drinking to avoid infection with worms should be taken only from well-maintained sources. It is also unacceptable to swim in ponds that are near pastures.
If, despite all the precautions, there is a danger of helminthic infection, experts advise to resort to emergency folk methods. For this, you can take pumpkin seeds, crush to a powdery state and eat 3 times a day before eating 1 tsp. Seeds of pear or lemon can also be used for this purpose.
All kinds of worms that can be inhabited by our organisms can be seen on numerous videos presented on the site and on the web. The benefit of viewing these videos is that due to them it is possible not only to study the life cycle of the worm, but also to develop for themselves possible techniques how to prevent infection. Also on the net, you can find videos that are available on how to deal with helminths.