Parasites often prevent a person from living normally, because they greatly weaken the body. What representatives most often parasitize in us, as well as how to deal with them, the article will tell.
Parasites are creatures that live and feed on their host. They can inhabit all animals, fish, birds and humans. This causes a lot of problems, because these creatures practically spoil health. Parasites in the human body can live in the liver, intestines, blood and even attack the brain and lungs. What are the most common types? There are several categories of parasites: flat and round worms, protozoa and insects. How they affect the body and how to excrete them - the article will tell.
Types of parasites
As already mentioned, there are several types of parasites in the human body:
- protozoa (trypanosome, plasmodium malaria, lamblia, amoeba dysentery);
- flat worms (cat flukes, liver flukes, bovine and porcine tapeworms);
- nematodes (roundworms, pinworms);
- insects (lice, gadflies, fleas);
- chelicerae (mites).
These species most often attack the human body. All of them share the fact that they feed on the juices and tissues of their host, slowly killing it. It is difficult to expel any of them, because everyone has many attachment devices (suckers, hooks, chelicerae) and some even settle into the cells of the body, from where it is simply impossible to expel them.
Everyone probably knows about lice, fleas and ticks, because these creatures live on the surface of the body, it is easy to find them and it is a little easier to fight. But not everyone is aware of the body's internal parasites, and in fact they are the most dangerous to health.
The simplest
These small organisms are found everywhere:
- in water;
- land;
- air.
It is impossible to see them, because they consist of only one cell. There are harmless representatives: shoe ciliate, proteus amoeba, green euglena and others. Some even help animals, for example, some ciliates digest cellulose from grass for cows, but there are many parasites among this abundance.
Malaria plasmodium
This native of Central Africa infests many countries today. Plasmodium malaria is carried by mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, which are not very picky, and the main thing for them is heat and water. Many countries have carried out the prevention of the disease: they have dried up swamps, destroyed the larvae and the disease has retreated there, but this pest still rages in the region of Central Africa and South America.
Once in the body, plasmodium malaria goes through two stages: hepatic and erythrocytic. The first passes after a few hours. Plasmodium attacks the liver cells, penetrates them, begins to multiply and feeds on the host's nutrients. At this time, a person already feels the first unpleasant symptoms:
- headache;
- nausea;
- lack of appetite.
After a few days, the parasite leaves the liver in the bloodstream and settles in the red blood cells. He has lived there for a long time. Every 3-4 days one comes out and enters the other. The exit is accompanied by the release of waste products of the protozoan, so the owner's temperature rises rapidly and strongly, fever, vomiting and intestinal disorders begin.
Treatment for Plasmodium malaria is difficult because the parasite hides in the host's cells. When the main symptoms of the disease appear, it is necessary to call an ambulance and constantly water the patient before his arrival, because the temperature and fever cause dehydration. One type of plasmodium will be installed in the hospital (there are more than 5 of them) and treatment will be prescribed.
Prevention is simple: fence the place of residence with a mosquito net if there are breeding grounds for the Anopheles mosquito in the district, as well as drain the swamps or flood their surface with special means that create a film through which the mosquito larvae cannot breatheand die.
Giardia and amoeba dysentery
Both of these parasites live in the human digestive organs, and any animal can become their host. They enter the body along with dirty water, unwashed fruits or vegetables. Their favorite places are the hepatic ducts, the small intestine and the upper part of the large intestine.
The symptoms will not be long in coming and it is difficult not to notice them. The first manifestations are stool disorders. Over time, the temperature rises sharply, severe diarrhea and vomiting begin. Most often, a person dies from dehydration, because the last two symptoms practically do not stop, the patient quickly loses water.
The fight against these parasites consists in drinking plenty of clean boiled water and taking special salt packets - preparations containing a special composition of salts that help retain water in the body. Prevention is also simple: wash the products, monitor the state of drinking water, because it is the source of the reproduction of these parasites.
Flat worms
Parasites in the human body can be both single-celled and multicellular. These are flat worms. The name comes from their shape, because they are really flat, because they breathe with the entire surface of the body, so they try to reduce the volume as much as possible. There are 3 types of flatworms: ciliates, flukes and tapeworms. The former are quite harmless, they live on land or water. But the second two classes are exclusively parasites.
Suckers
These are small worms that have suckers on their mouth and belly. They prefer to live in our body within the duct of the liver and gallbladder. These helminths have two main life stages: a larva and an adult. The host for the larvae can be aquatic mollusks (liver flukes), fish (cat flukes), but cattle and humans are permanent.
Adults most often settle in the liver area, but they can sometimes enter the intestines, lungs, and even the brain. Their accommodation is accompanied by:
- headache;
- lose weight;
- lack of appetite;
- anemia.
They can be killed only by special anthelmintic drugs, which the doctor will prescribe, depending on the type of parasite.
Prevention is simple: do not drink water and try not to swim in bodies of standing water, and also do not chew blades of grass in the field, as many people like to do, because flatworm larvae can also be on the grass.
Tape
Tapeworms are so named because these parasites are of great length (except for the echinococcus), so they really look like a ribbon. They also develop with a change of "place of residence", but more often than not it is the person who is the permanent owner.
Bovine and swine tapeworms attack the small intestine. They are attached with suction cups and hooks, so they cannot be brought out of there with feces. They are constantly growing, they can reach a length of 10 meters or more. They can be driven out of there only with special drugs that will kill the parasite, the suckers will relax, fall and come out with feces.
One of the most dangerous representatives of tapeworms is echinococcus. The host of its larva is humans and herbivores, and the adult worm settles in predators. It is the larval stage of the parasite that is dangerous, because it differs in structure from that which forms the tapeworm.
The echinococcal larva is a sac in which many larvae develop. Such a structure can attack the brain, lungs, intestines, liver. It is dangerous with its unlimited growth, because sooner or later it simply tears the owner's tissues. If the echinococcus has affected the brain or lungs, only an operation can save the patient, but it can also be dangerous.
If the tapeworm has settled in our body, then we urgently need to go to the hospital, because they are constantly growing, clog the intestines (tapeworms), affect the lungs or brain (echinococcus), drink all vital juices and kill theirguest. Prevention involves checking meat and fish for small white or yellowish larvae. If they are present, such a product should never be eaten!
Round worms
Many have also heard of round worms, because they poison people's lives no less often than flat ones, especially small children suffer from them. The most "famous" representatives are nematodes and pinworms, which populate the human intestine. Sometimes they can get into other organs: liver, eyes, brain.
Roundworms develop with a change in habitat: larvae live in the lungs of a person, and adults in the intestines. The name "round" characterizes their cross-sectional shape: they are really round.
These worms do not have attachment devices, but they do have muscles that help them resist stool. Sometimes they themselves crawl out of the body (pinworms) and lay eggs on the anus.
It is children who suffer from it, because children do not know the rules of hygiene, therefore, after combing the place of spawning, they can stick their fingers in their mouth and become infected again.
Treatment is possible with medications prescribed by a doctor. If the mother of a child with pinworms is afraid to give him pills, then you can cure him without them. To do this, it is necessary at 5-6 in the morning (it is at this time that the female leaves the body and lays eggs around the anus) clean the inside of the priests with vodka, then lubricate the treatment site with creamfor children so as not to dry out the delicate skin.
Prevention consists in the fact that it is necessary to constantly monitor hygiene: wash your hands after touching the ground, do not drink dirty water.
Pesticide test
If you have doubts about your health, you can test for the presence of parasites in the body. If you have any of the following symptoms, enter a plus sign.
- Weight loss is observed without diets or dietary changes.
- The temperature has steadily increased in the region of 37-37. 5 grams.
- There is no appetite or, on the contrary, you constantly want to eat.
- There is often a desire to eat something sweet.
- Increased headache.
- Hot flashes of weakness.
- Stool disorders.
- Nausea or vomiting
- Allergic skin rashes or swelling.
- Pain in the liver and intestines.
- Fainting (if the brain is affected).
- Shaking hands.
- Constant pallor.
If there are 1 to 4 benefits, it means that there are no worms, but the person is experiencing constant stress, is sick or has problems with the digestive tract. If there are 5 to 7 advantages, then there is a suspicion of the presence of parasites, but more than 8 positive responses indicate real problems, so it is urgent to consult a doctor.
Parasites poison the human body, weaken the immune system, prevent them from leading a normal active life, so it is necessary to remember the symptoms of their manifestation and methods of treatment, as well as preventive measures, because only then can you protect yourself and your family.