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, while they often resemble the symptoms of other diseases. A person can search for the cause of their diseases for a long time and be treated for a completely different disease, although the solution to the problem is in the infection with worms.
Usually, parasites are suspected at later stages, when treatment for other diseases does not help. By this time, the worms in the body reach maturity and it becomes more difficult to remove them. It is important to be able to recognize the symptoms as soon as they appear, and immediately carry out a diagnosis to find out if the parasitic infection is to blame for frequent allergic rashes and other unpleasant diseases.
What types of worms can a person have?
Worms are a common name for a number of parasites. There are about 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 helminthic infestation that affects adults and children. Their presence is the easiest to determine. This type of worm lays eggs on the skin between the buttocks. Therefore, one scraping is often enough to determine the presence of pinworms.
Roundworm
The "target" of ascaris is the respiratory tract. With ascariasis, profuse sputum is released during coughing. If you take it for analysis, you can find traces of parasitic damage in it. An increase in body temperature is also likely.
Trichinella
These parasites are the most difficult to detect - they attach to the intestinal wall and do not come out like pinworms. 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 symptomatology of this lesion is more like typhoid fever.
Trematodes
Trematodes are flat worms that affect the liver, lungs, and blood. Infection usually occurs while in contaminated water or eating poorly cooked 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 diagnosing.
- Bloating, increased gas production, any other problems with the work of the large intestine.
- Frequent constipation or diarrhea. Depends on the stage of development of the parasites. Constipation occurs when specimens of worms become large and block the passage of the intestines with clots. Diarrhea indicates that long individuals interfere with the secretion of bile.
- Allergic reactions. Especially noticeable if the person is not allergic. Allergies can manifest themselves in different forms - 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. Worms can migrate through the body and reach the respiratory tract. This can provoke bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma.
- Itching in the anal area. Associated with the release of parasites for laying eggs. Appears mainly at night.
- Joint and muscle pain. They also appear due to the movement of parasites through the body.
- Teeth grinding - bruxism. It is associated with an increase in the activity of the nervous system during parasitic infection. Appears during sleep.
- Chronic fatigue and a condition resembling depression. The waste products of worms literally poison the body, which leads to a deterioration in the well-being of a person as a whole.
- All manifestations of reduced immunity, frequent colds. It can be difficult to heal quickly.
If most of these symptoms are observed, the likelihood of worms is high. It is better to run a series of diagnostic tests right away to confirm or disprove this guess.
Important! Any of these symptoms should be referred to a specialist right away. These signs can speak not only of helminthic lesions, but also of other serious diseases.
Diagnostics
When worms are affected, the diagnosis cannot be made solely by the presence of symptoms. A number of studies should be done. Some of them give almost 100% accurate results.
- Various microscopic examinations of feces and scrapings. 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 analyzes 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 drawback of this analysis is the rather high cost of its performance.
- Hemoscanning. This method can help refute or confirm the presence of worms in the body. With this blood test, traces of their vital activity and intoxication will be noticeable. The essence of this method is in the study of "live" blood taken just now.
Important! It is usually advised to go through several studies to confirm the result.
Which doctor is treating?
With a suspicion of helminthic invasion, it is better to contact a regular therapist and describe the situation to him. If tests to determine the presence of parasites have already been carried out independently, they should be taken with you.
The therapist will refer you to the doctor who is more 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 the bulk of the parasites live in the intestines.
In some cases, consultation with a parasitologist or a parasitic disease specialist is required. But such 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 attending physician.
Home therapy
Immediately after the detection of the disease, treatment should be started. Most anthelmintic drugs have many side effects, so it is recommended to take them under the supervision of your doctor.
The drugs are different, depending on the type of worm that infects the body. In general, all medicines can be divided into several groups.
- Medicines for nematodes, which include pinworms and roundworms.
- Remedies for cestodes - tapeworms, which include bovine tapeworm, small tapeworm, echinococcus.
- Medicines for trematodes, flatworms.
Important! It should be remembered that anthelmintic drugs are very toxic, they should be taken with caution.
Taking medications for prophylaxis
Since taking antihelminthic drugs has a huge number of negative effects, it is not recommended to take it just like that, for prevention purposes, if there is no increased risk of infection. Infection can occur 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 family member or a person living in the same apartment. One can infect the rest, therefore, if helminths are found in one of the family members, everyone else is recommended to take prophylactic antihelminthic drugs.
- If a child goes to kindergarten, then he, his parents, brothers or sisters are also advised to take antihelminthic drugs for prevention. It is believed that in a closed children's collective there is an increased danger of the spread of parasites.
- Pets. If there are cats or dogs in the house, especially if they are often on the street, the owners are advised to prophylaxis with antiparasitic drugs.
- Contact with the ground, working with it. Especially for summer residents and wildlife lovers.
- Constant trips to exotic countries. There is a high probability of bringing a rare parasite from southern countries, then treatment will be complicated by the inability to quickly determine its type.
- Wildlife hobbies. These include hiking, fishing, hunting.
Only in these cases is the prophylactic administration of antihelminthic drugs permissible and beneficial.
Treatment with folk remedies
Often, folk antiparasitic drugs come to the aid of pills for worms. You should be careful with them - some of them are dangerous or can harm if abused.
Bowel cleansing
Sometimes bowel cleansing with enemas is recommended after taking antihelminthic agents to literally flush out the dying parasites. The rationality of this method is questionable, but the usual enema with water is not dangerous - it can be done for your own peace of mind.
Some people recommend doing an enema with baking soda or salt - this method is even more controversial. Soda and salt can burn the mucous membrane and imbalance the water balance, so you should not use it. In addition, most parasites live in a different part of the intestine. This method should be put off as a last resort.
Garlic treatment
It is known that worms are afraid of sharp and burning foods. Therefore, during 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 the intestines and have breakfast. You can do it without milk - it's just that this product makes it easier to take garlic.
The introduction of tampons soaked in garlic juice into the anus is not recommended. Can cause allergies and burns.
Pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin seeds are another effective folk remedy for the treatment and prevention of parasitic diseases. There are several methods of taking them to combat worms.
On an empty stomach every morning you need to eat a couple of tablespoons of pumpkin seeds. Next, you should wait about an hour and empty the intestines. If this cannot be done, you need to take a laxative. Then you can have breakfast.
For the second method, you need to mix one glass of ground roasted pumpkin seeds with a glass of honey and a spoonful of baking soda. Infuse this mixture for about ten days in a dark place. Use only glassware. The ready-made mixture should be eaten in a spoon every morning, well before meals.
Important! If you are allergic to folk remedies, they should be abandoned.
Prophylaxis
The main prevention of parasitic diseases is keeping the body and home clean. After using the toilet, coming from the street - you need to wash your hands thoroughly 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 thoroughly cooked. Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, preferably pour boiling water over them before use.
It is not worth taking antihelminthic drugs for prevention, but you can periodically lean more heavily on spicy food, garlic. For the same purpose, pumpkin seeds can be added to the diet.
Knowing about all the possible symptoms and manifestations of parasitic diseases, they can be detected at an early stage, after which they can be quickly and painlessly cured.