Despite today's development of civilization and modern medicine, various microorganisms remain in this world to live, multiply and damage. These include: bacteria, germs and worms. 70-80% of people in the world are infected with helminths. These are the most terrible enemies of man, which must be fought.
Helminths and their larvae use the human body for their development and reproduction, while extracting nutrients from it, depriving the carrier of the opportunity to get all the necessary micro and macro elements. They can live not only in the intestines, but also in the muscles, lungs, liver, joints, which leads not only to the destruction of organs, tissues and systems, but also causes a variety of diseases that lead to death. This is why, every person needs to prevent different types of worms to prevent complications caused by helminthiasis.
Methods of penetration of helminths into the human body
Given the number of helminths that can live in the human body, they have many ways to get inside the carrier. It is the children who are most often infected because they often play in the sand, come in contact with soil and animals and also do not always eat well-processed berries. Adults are most often infected precisely by their children or due to non-compliance with basic hygiene standards.
Experts have recorded the following ways of helminths penetrating the body:
- If a person after an active day sits down to eat dinner without washing his hands, then along with the food he will consume the germs, bacteria and helminth eggs collected during the day, which will lead to infection. Infection can also occur if a person pulls dirty hands into the mouth.
- Unwashed vegetables or fruits come in contact with the ground or limbs of the infected. Insufficient processing of such products leads to infection in the manner described above.
- Poorly processed meat and fish products. Processing of meat products is required to destroy the helminth larvae in them, preventing them from entering the body and starting to develop.
- The use of untreated water can also serve as a source of infection, as worm larvae may be present in the water.
- Flies and insects come in contact with soil that contains helminth eggs, as a result of which they can hold worm larvae on their paws and place them in food consumed by humans.
- When swimming in open water, a person is able to swallow water containing parasitic eggs and thus provoke infection.
- In direct contact with contaminated soil, helminth infestation can also occur, as some helminths can enter the human body through microcracks in the skin.
- Regular treatment of pets is required because animals absolutely do not follow a nutritious diet and often eat raw meat from tapeworm-infected mice.
- Exotic cuisine, water from an unverified source, insects and foreign animals can immediately strike a person, because in exotic countries it is not customary to process every product well (there are places where a raw food diet or bloody meat is welcome).
Symptoms of helminth infection
Sometimes the disease can occur asymptomatically, so an annual body examination for helminthiasis is recommended. The diagnosis must be made by the whole family because infecting one person endangers the rest of the family. When signs of helminth infestation appear, it is urgent to visit a doctor to get timely medical care.
Helminths provoke the following symptoms:
- Physical weakness and high thermometer readings.
- Headache and torsion.
- state of apathy.
- Abdominal pain.
- Itching sensation in the anus.
- Enlargement of the spleen and liver.
- Skin rash, in the form of dermatosis or urticaria.
- Nausea, alternating diarrhea with constipation, vomiting.
- Anemia, hypovitaminosis.
- Bad breath.
- Sudden weight loss or sudden starvation can occur, leading to obesity.
After hearing your complaints, the parasitologist will prescribe tools to eliminate the helminthic symptoms and their pathogen, based on the severity of the invasion. If worm larvae were not found during the examination, then he will advise appropriate medication to be used as prophylaxis.
Pros and cons of preventing worms
Many are wondering if it is still necessary to take measures and use remedies created specifically for worms for prevention purposes? Here, expert opinions differ. Some believe that it is not necessary to carry out preventive treatment, as a non-specific technique is sufficient to prevent the invasion and use of folk remedies.
And others argue that only medicines serve as a barrier between large-scale invasion and health, so only pharmacological medicines will help prevent an outbreak of helminthiasis in the population.
It is known that it is easier to prevent a disease than to get rid of it later, and prevention by different types of worms makes it possible to prevent large-scale invasions by destroying individual helminths in time.
Useful tips. To prevent infection of the whole family, it is recommended to drink a course of tablets from worms in spring and autumn, periodically use folk remedies that allow you to create a microflora in the body that is not suitable for the life of helminths; and also apply non-specific preventative measures that protect against accidental penetration of parasites into the body. This is especially true for people who keep pets and eat low quality food.
Non-specific anthelmintic prophylaxis
These preventative measures allow you to protect yourself from helminth attack at no financial cost.
This will require:
- Regularly adhere to hygiene standards: change bedding and underwear at the right time, perform water procedures, wash your hands with soap and water before eating (especially after visiting public transport, baths and shops).
- Visit the beach with beach shoes. There are many helminth larvae in the soil, which enter the sand from animal feces and enter the human body through cracks in the legs. Even after walking on the beach in slippers, it is recommended to wash your feet with soap to prevent worms from settling on your body.
- It is best to wash fruits and vegetables, fry meat and fish in order to destroy all the helminth larvae available in these products.
- Strengthen the immune system so that the body can more easily cope with helminth infection and diseases caused by parasites.
- Perform anti-helminthic therapy on pets, because they too become infected with toxins and transmit them to humans.
- Do not drink water from unverified sources. Worm larvae can live in water for a long time, so before drinking, it should be boiled and it is better to replace it completely with purified water.
Sometimes a person is not able to implement these security measures, for example, during a long journey by train, bus, etc. The parasites then have the ability to penetrate the vulnerable body and attack it, so it is necessary to carry out the prevention of worms in children and adults.
Prevention against helminths in humans: drugs
Currently, there are many anthelmintic drugs, but it is not recommended to prescribe the treatment itself. This should be done by a specialist who knows the characteristics of the medication and how to choose the right dose for your body. Preventive treatment for worms in humans should aim at destroying young worms and maintaining the body.
As you know, many medicines are forbidden to take together with alcohol. This reduces the effect of the drug and increases the side effects. If you want to get a positive result from the treatment, you should exclude alcohol from your diet 1 week before taking the medication and 30 days after preventing the helminth infection.
Popular methods for preventing worms in humans
Traditional medicine also shows good results in preventing helminthiasis. Some herbal remedies create an unpleasant atmosphere in the digestive system for the worms to live in, as a result of which they are forced to leave the host's body. Before using these recipes, you should consult a doctor, because due to the bitter properties, they can further harm a person who has diseases of the digestive system or kidneys.
- Tincture of nuts in alcoholprepare as follows: take a glass of chopped walnuts, pour a glass of vodka. Ready infusion can be taken daily, 5-7 drops on an empty stomach, for 10-15 days.
- A decoction of wormwood and tansy: first you will need to grind the herbs, as a result of which 2 tbsp. Pour boiling water over the collection spoons, insist and take 100-150 ml. within a month.
- garlicthere are no contraindications and it is available to everyone. To prevent helminthiasis, you should eat 2-3 cloves of garlic a day.
- Pumpkin seedshave good antiparasitic activity. You should eat 2 cups of pumpkin seeds on an empty stomach, at least once a week. Also from this product you can prepare healing anti-helminthic tinctures.
- carrot rootwill be useful for preventing helminths in liquid form. You will need to squeeze 1 carrot, drain the juice and drink it before eating.
- The ashes of linden branches: ash has long been famous for its healing properties. The ash of linden branches has anti-helminthic properties, therefore it is also used in the present time. To prevent helminthiasis, you should add 1 teaspoon of ash to a glass of milk and drink it on an empty stomach.
Medicines according to the above prescriptions should be consumed once a week. If a person has not had any protection against helminths for a long time, then these funds will have to be drunk daily for 2 weeks, and then switch to weekly use.
Traditional medicine has many anthelmintic agents to fight parasitic worms. In ancient times, grandparents and great-grandparents used these tools because they act on worms and do not harm the human body. Consequently, prevention with folk remedies does not require much effort and money for medicines, but you can not do even without drug prevention, especially if you suspect the presence of an initial stage of invasion.