What you need to know about parasites?
As evidenced by the World Health Organization – almost ¼ of the entire population of the planet is infected with parasites. This figure is close to the rates of cases of infection with influenza and SARS. Disease symptoms, caused by parasites, often appear in a blurred form, because they are attributed to other diseases, and as a result, the parasitic infection is not diagnosed and treated in a timely manner.
Exactly the fact, what we know too little about parasites, makes us vulnerable to the invasion of our lives by these dangerous microorganisms.
A person from the very beginning of his own existence is a "haven" and a source of nutrition for a mass of microorganisms. Some species bring benefits to humans and participate in the life process., others - use the body only for their own selfish purposes.
so, a parasite is an organism, who lives off his master, feeding on his cells, energy and food, which he uses. Moreover, a person may not be aware of the existence of parasites in his own body for many years., although they cause very serious damage to health.
The most common way parasites enter the body is through contaminated food., insufficiently washed fruits and vegetables, undercooked (undercooked) fish and meat. Another route of infection with parasites is pets. Most animals have several types of parasites in their bodies., which through feces enter the external environment - on household items, animal fur. A person can become infected with parasites simply by hugging or kissing their pet..
There are many types of parasitic organisms, which differ in different localization, the duration of stay in the human body and the degree of harm.
Most often a person meets the following types of parasites:
- The simplest microorganisms: Giardia, dysenteric amoeba, Toxoplasma, intestinal balantidium, Trichomonas.
- helminths (worms): ostritsы, trichinella, askaridы, , schistosomes.
- Ectoparasites (living on the surface of the body): lice, acne mites, itch itching.
Giardia - live in the human intestine, less often they can be found in the gallbladder and in the bile ducts. Invasions (infection) most often occur when drinking unboiled water or when washing vegetables or fruits with dirty water. Giardiasis can develop when swimming in reservoirs infected with parasite larvae. Giardiasis is most often asymptomatic, therefore, it is difficult to diagnose and treat.
trichomonad - can live in the intestines, oral cavity and vagina. Genital trichomoniasis is most often asymptomatic, causing severe diseases of the genitourinary system.
Toxoplasma - cause toxoplasmosis disease, characterized by a chronic course and eye damage, nervous system, skeletal muscle muscle. Most often, a person becomes infected with parasites from pets, there are frequent cases of intrauterine infection.
Askaridы - live in the small intestine, feeding on its contents. Spreading through the body, helminth larvae affect not only the intestines, but also vessels, bronchi, eyes, lungs, brain.
Pinworms - cause enterobiasis disease, helminth infection occurs when helminth eggs enter the mouth. Crawling out through the anus, pinworms lay eggs, causing itching and irritation near the anus.
Trichinella – small worms, which a person can become infected mainly, eating insufficiently thermally processed pork meat. Cause severe symptoms, difficult to treat.
The danger of parasites
Many people believe, that helminths (in common people - worms) - a common childhood and harmless disease, not posing a particular danger to the body. But that's not true!
Parasites can harm almost all human organs, each species has its own affected area. for example, opisthorchiasis affects the pancreas, liver, gall bladder, roundworms can cause severe bowel damage, lungs and heart.
Any parasitic invasion inflicts a powerful blow on the work of all internal organs., causes a rash, aggravates the course of concomitant diseases.
Parasitic diseases have a fairly long incubation period and are chosen, usually, latent form of existence. Firstly, helminths affect the intestines, and after (after 2-3 of the week) parasite larvae and adults begin to spread throughout the body, causing the first symptoms of helminthiasis.
Examining photos of parasites, where the long worms are depicted, a person begins to involuntarily doubt how such monsters can exist in the body, not showing myself in any way? The answer is simple. The purpose of the parasite is to hide its existence as carefully as possible., therefore, he is quite cleverly able to hide in the body, without causing any particular symptoms.
Most often people think, that they have no particular health problems, even if they are often exposed to colds, feel recurrent pain in the intestines, constipation, fatigue, joint pain, notice the appearance of a rash. All these manifestations may indicate the penetration of "intruders" into the body - this is how parasitic diseases begin to manifest themselves..
Previously, the presence of parasites was determined using stool tests, now this method is recognized as not entirely reliable. In the analysis of feces, larvae of parasites can be detected, if the worms have laid eggs at exactly that moment, when was the check. Otherwise, larval eggs will not be seen, and helminthic invasion will not be diagnosed in time.
The difficulty of diagnosis and the duration of treatment make parasitic diseases dangerous for humans.. Therefore, it is better to prevent the penetration of parasites into the body initially.. To do this, it is enough to follow the rules of personal hygiene., eat only thermally processed and thoroughly washed food, regularly take laboratory tests and follow all the doctor's recommendations.