Worms in humans are a rather unpleasant phenomenon that may not appear for a long time. Parasitic worms are scientifically called helminths. Infection of humans is called helminthiasis. This occurs as a result of worm eggs entering our body. Contrary to popular belief that worms are a purely childhood disease, adults are also susceptible to serious parasite attacks. Scientists have estimated that one in four people on Earth is a carrier of this disease.
Where can they live?
Adult helminths move throughout the body until they settle in the organs that best suit them. The eggs of the parasite enter the intestines and settle there. This is the most common location. It is easy to detect worms in the intestines and eliminate them.
Second in popularity among worms is the liver. Next come the lungs. There are very rare forms of the disease in which the worms enter the eyeballs and muscles.
Classification
Human worms are classified according to their location. There are luminal and tissue types.
Fabric- these are the ones that live in organs. They can cause the following diseases:
- paragonimiasis– this is a type of infection of the lung tissue by worms;
- echinococcosis- Hepatic injury;
- cysticercosis- brain;
- filariasis– lymph nodes.
The second type of human worms isbright. This is the most common type of disease that affects the intestines. Worms can be completely different: hookworms, roundworms, tapeworms, whipworms, tapeworms, pinworms and others.
Stages of development
Worms in an adult can appear from completely different sources. For the parasite to begin developing in the body, it must enter through the mouth. Worm eggs can be found in raw meat, untreated water in reservoirs, or on dirty hands. In this way, they enter the oral cavity, then the stomach, and are then absorbed by the intestines.
Already in the stomach, the larva hatches from the egg, which begins its journey through the human body until it finds an ideal environment for its further development. If it is intestinal parasites, you do not need to move for long. If it is pulmonary or cerebral, then the larva will move through the bloodstream until it settles in the indicated place.
In the third stage of development, the larva turns into an adult helminth that feeds on vitamins and minerals intended for the human body. The parasite lays eggs again and reproduces at very high speed.
The term for completing all stages is from several hours to several days. During this period, it is important to choose a good worm remedy for a person.
Symptoms
There are not always clear signs of the presence of worms in humans. Symptoms may appear only during certain periods of the disease or may not appear at all. When an adult lives in the body, it is extremely difficult to notice it, because the disease can be confused with any other disease. Helminths can be detected randomly by stool analysis.
To imagine what happens in the body, let's consider the example of the life cycle of the roundworm. This type of worm loves to travel and in the process of moving around the body, it can give itself away.
The cause of intestinal worm infection can be the consumption of unwashed fruits and vegetables. The parasite lays eggs in the soil and they can easily reach plants.
Once the worm egg has entered the mouth and stomach, it begins to grow and turns into a larva, which very quickly (within 2-3 hours) enters the circulatory system and begins to move through the small bloodstream. . Its target is the lungs.
In the lung tissue, the larva grows until it becomes an adult, which will have little space and will have to eat the cells of the alveoli and small bronchi. At this stage, the first symptoms appear and, if the diagnosis is made correctly, a remedy for worms will quickly help a person get rid of them.
The patient begins to cough, has attacks of shortness of breath, and body temperature rises. In rare cases, an allergic rash appears. This is how worms manifest themselves in humans. Symptoms and treatment will depend on the stage of development, because all of these signs can be confused with a common cold.
Once the adult has chewed its way through the respiratory tract and into the mouth, it will lay eggs for the person to ingest again and end up in the gastrointestinal tract, where the cycle begins again.
Phases of the disease.
The symptoms of worms in an adult will be different, depending on the phase of the disease. There may be two of them:
- Sharp
- Acquired.
The first phase appears in the first few days after infection, as the larvae travel through the body. A person may experience itching, redness of the skin, and rashes. There may be a dry, barking cough with attacks of suffocation. If you donate blood for analysis, the result will show a significant increase in eosinophils.
The transition to the second phase indicates that the human worms have settled in the right place and exist quietly, without disturbing anyone. This is a hidden stage that may not appear even after several years.
Medicines for worms in humans will help eliminate them only if an infection is accidentally discovered. Men and women need to listen carefully to their bodies. As the months go by that people feed the parasites, the general state of the body will change. The metabolism suffers first. After all, the peculiarity of helminths is that, adhering to the walls of organs, they suck out all nutrients and minerals from the cells, as a result of which the functionality of the affected areas is disturbed.
What could be the consequences?
There are parasites that cause dangerous conditions in the body. For example, the existence of trichinella or schistosome causes anemia and vitamin deficiency.
Do not forget that worms also secrete their metabolic products into the human intestine, resulting in the development of dysbacteriosis and excessive reproduction of opportunistic organisms.
The immune system suffers. It weakens and allergies appear. A person becomes susceptible to viral attacks and gets sick more often.
If human worms are left untreated, the consequences can be unpredictable. Each type of parasite affects different organs, and they are the ones that suffer first. If the liver is damaged, jaundice may develop. Hookworm causes anemia, since this type of helminth feeds exclusively on blood. So, the most important thing at any stage is to choose a medicine for worms for a person.
Diagnosis
Only two tests can save a life. This is a general blood and stool test. With an annual medical exam, the risks of missing an illness are minimal.
The following changes will occur in the blood: leukocytosis - a change in the formula of leukocytes to the right and an increase in the number of eosinophils.
Worms in human feces are the safest and quickest way to detect them. You must take the test just done, then the result will be correct.
Pills for the prevention of worms for humans.
Medicines can be divided into two groups: those that have a broad spectrum of action and those that kill a specific type of helminth. Since there are more than 70 types of worms that infect humans, it is impossible to determine without testing which parasite has entered. Tablets for the prevention of worms in humans must be prescribed by a doctor.
In medicine, all worms are divided into three groups:
- nematodes;
- cestodes;
- trematodes.
Treatment will depend on what type of helminth lives in the body.
Nematodes (roundworms)
This species includes: pinworms, roundworms, trichinella, whipworms and toxocara. In children and adults, the first two representatives are the most common.
Cestodes (tapeworms)
Cestodes are a large number of helminth representatives. The most common are taenarynchosis, coenurosis, alveococcosis, sparganosis, broad tapeworm and others.
Trematodes (flatworms)
Representatives of this class can be listed for a long time. Most often, the body is affected by opisthorchiasis (cat rig), fascioliasis, clonorchiasis (Chinese rig), lung fluke and others.
How to take antiparasitic pills
Regardless of what type of helminth has settled in the body of an adult or a child, remember the basic and most important rule: if a worm is found in a family member, everyone must be treated. It is necessary to disinfect all items in the house. If you have pets, the first thing you should do is control them, since our pets can be the source of the problem.
All worm medications affect adults without affecting eggs or larvae. Therefore, the second rule is: two weeks after taking the drug, the course must be repeated. This is especially true in cases of pinworm infection. These parasites are so clever that they leave the larvae outside the body and a person can become self-infected again.
It is recommended to take the tablets in the morning and perform a cleansing enema at night.
Be careful! Any medication should be taken as prescribed by a doctor. This is especially true in cases of flatworm and tapeworm infection. They are so dangerous that treatment is done in a hospital. When removing them, the dosage must be strictly observed, taking into account the weight and age of the patient, since the drugs are very toxic. Self-medication in such cases is unacceptable!
Worm prevention
Debates among mothers about whether or not they should take tablets to prevent worms never stop. Some believe that this is a good way to protect yourself from dangerous consequences, because children are the most susceptible to infections. Others consider it unnecessary and do not want to load the body with pills that are not necessary.
Most often, children of school and preschool age are affected by pinworms. The enterobiasis test can give a false negative, and then a sick child, who brings parasites home or to school, can infect everyone. Transmission of pinworm eggs occurs through household items, a handshake, pet hair, door handles, and other surrounding objects.
The main prevention methods include following the rules of personal hygiene. It is necessary to wash your hands with soap after defecating, before eating, after going outside or visiting public places.
What to do if a child complains of itchy anus? This is one of the most pronounced symptoms of pinworm infection. In this case, you should be tested for enterobiasis as quickly as possible. Let's say a child complains at night and in the morning you have to run to the clinic.
If the result of the first scraping is negative and the itching continues, then the test should be repeated after two days for a week and then after another two weeks.
If any of the following statements apply to you, then you should take preventive measures:
- presence of furry pets;
- constant games in the sandbox or on the floor;
- travel to an exotic country;
- The father is an avid fisherman or hunter.
Popular recipes
Let's see how to remove worms from a person at home. Recipes against helminths have been known since ancient times. And despite the fact that they are successfully replaced with synthetic substances, the popular method remains a proven preventive method.
Let's look at the most effective recipes:
Onions, honey, aloe juice.Onion is considered the most universal remedy. It has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and anthelmintic effects. Mix it in equal proportions with aloe juice and honey and you will get a real medicine against worms. Take 1 teaspoon before breakfast for several days. Because the product is sweet, children are likely to drink it.
Carrot juice.Fresh carrots not only contain a large amount of vitamins, but also have an anthelmintic effect. Drinking it on an empty stomach, you can enrich your body with energy for the whole day and, at the same time, prevent an unpleasant illness.
Garlic– one of the most effective remedies against worms. Let's look at recipes on how to remove worms from a person at home:
- Finely chop or squeeze the garlic. Roll the resulting porridge in small portions on cheesecloth so that it looks like a candle. Insert into the anus at night for 10 days. This remedy is effective against pinworms and is used in adults and children.
- Garlic enemas. Another way to remove unpleasant neighbors from the intestines. The solution should consist of water and minced garlic in gruel in proportion. For one glass you need to take a couple of cloves. Repeat the procedure 2 times a week.
- Garlic with honey. Another option for children's medicine. To prevent the garlic from burning, it is mixed with natural honey. Take 1 teaspoon twice a day.
- Garlic in milk. For lovers of unusual flavors, milk-based medicines are offered. There are five cloves of crushed garlic per liter of cow product. The mixture is boiled and taken in small portions before bedtime.
Herbal infusions
Since time immemorial, all medicines were prepared from herbs. Mother Nature knows better than anyone how to get rid of parasitic worms. It is time to systematize this knowledge.
To prepare an herbal remedy, you need to choose bitter plants, such as cloves, wormwood, thyme, calamus and cumin. Prepared infusions should be taken every day. It will take a month to completely cleanse the body, but improvement occurs 2-3 weeks after the course.
Let's look at the most famous recipes for herbal tinctures for the treatment of helminths:
- Based on tansy.Pour boiling water over the herb in the following proportion: 100 grams of dry mixture per 150 ml of hot water. Cover with a lid and let it rest for 8-10 hours. It is necessary to take 30 drops dissolved in a glass of water.
- Based on wormwood.This herb must be infused in alcohol for a week. Proportion 1: 1. For 100 grams of herb, 100 ml of alcohol. Take 25 drops dissolved in a glass of water.
- Effectivetincture on walnut shells.It is necessary to fill it with alcohol for every 100 grams of dry product and 150 ml of "fire" water.
- Based on cloves.Dried, unopened buds of the clove tree are used for the tincture. Pour 100 grams of aromatic spices into a glass of boiling water and leave for at least 3 days. The daily dose of the medicine is 30 drops per glass of water.
Pumpkin seeds against worms.
Pumpkin seeds are safe for both children and adults. This is a very popular folk remedy to combat helminths. Let's see how to remove worms from humans using this product.
What is the secret? The fact is that the shell of pumpkin seeds contains a substance such as cucurbin, which is destructive for worms. Therefore, you should only consume unpeeled green seeds.
Kucurbin does not kill the worms, it only paralyzes them. Adult individuals lose the ability to move, attach to body cells and suck up nutrients, which means that they will soon die naturally and be excreted through the human anus.
The most effective recipe is pumpkin seeds and castor oil. A serving of 100 shelled seeds should be consumed in the morning. Then take a teaspoon of castor oil. The latter has a laxative effect to eliminate parasites from the body.
Mix pumpkin and honey. First, you need to grind the seeds into gruel in a blender, and then add a little honey. Eat muesli in the morning on an empty stomach. The course of treatment is several days. It is advisable to repeat after 2 weeks.
Another healthy breakfast is pumpkin seeds and garlic. First, the grains are fried in a pan without fat and water until golden. Then pour the mixture into a blender, add the garlic and grind until you obtain a paste. Let it sit overnight and take a tablespoon of the mixture in the morning.