Despite today's development of civilization and modern medicine, various microorganisms remain in this world to live, multiply and cause harm. These include: bacteria, germs and worms. 70-80% of people in the world are infected with helminths. These are man's most terrible enemies and should be fought.
Helminths and their larvae use the human body for their own development and reproduction, while extracting nutrients from it and depriving the carrier of the opportunity to receive all the necessary micro and macro elements. They can live not only in the intestines, but also in muscles, lungs, liver and joints, which not only leads to the destruction of organs, tissues and systems, but also causes a number of diseases that lead to death. That is why every person needs to prevent various types of worms in order to avoid complications from helminthiasis.
Methods of helminth penetration into the human body
Given the number of helminths that can live in the human body, they have many opportunities to get inside the carrier. Children are most commonly infected because they often play in the sand, come into contact with soil and animals, and also do not always eat well-processed berries. Adults most often become infected through their children or through non-compliance with basic hygiene standards.
Experts have recorded the following types of helminth penetration into the body:
- If, after an active day, a person sits down to dinner without washing his hands, he consumes, along with food, the microbes, bacteria and worm eggs collected during the day, which leads to infection. Invasion can also occur when a person puts dirty hands in their mouth.
- Unwashed vegetables or fruits come into contact with the floor or limbs of the infected person. Inadequate processing of such products leads to infection in the manner described above.
- Poorly processed meat and fish products. Processing of meat products is necessary in order to destroy the helminth larvae contained in them and prevent them from entering the body and developing.
- Using untreated water can also serve as a source of infection as worm larvae can be present in the water.
- Flies and insects come into contact with soil containing helminth eggs, which allows them to carry worm larvae on their paws and place them on the food eaten by humans.
- When swimming in open water, a person can swallow water containing parasite eggs, thereby provoking an infection.
- Helminthic invasion can also occur with direct contact with contaminated soil, since some helminths can enter the human body through microcracks in the skin.
- Regular treatment of pets is necessary, since animals absolutely do not follow a nutritious diet and often eat raw meat from mice infected with tapeworm.
- Exotic cuisine, water from an unproven source, foreign insects and animals can catch your eye immediately, because in exotic countries it is not customary to process every product well (there are countries where raw food or meat with blood is welcome).
Symptoms of a helminth infestation
Sometimes the disease can appear without symptoms, so an annual examination of the body for helminthiasis is recommended. Diagnosis should be done by the whole family, because contagion in one person puts the rest of the family at risk. When signs of a helminthic invasion appear, it is urgent to consult a doctor for timely medical care.
Helminths provoke the following symptoms:
- Physical weakness and elevated thermometer readings.
- Pain in head and vertebrae.
- state of apathy.
- Pain in the stomach.
- itching in the anus.
- Spleen and liver enlargement.
- Rashes in the form of dermatoses or urticaria.
- Nausea, diarrhea alternating with constipation, vomiting.
- Anemia, hypovitaminosis.
- Bad smell from the mouth.
- Sudden weight loss or sudden hunger can occur and lead to obesity.
After listening to your complaints, the parasitologist will prescribe remedies to eliminate symptoms of helminths and their causative agents, depending on the severity of the invasion. If no larvae of the worms were found during the examination, he recommends drugs that are suitable for prophylaxis.
Pros and cons of worm prevention
Many are interested in whether it is still necessary to take measures and use specially designed remedies for worms for the purpose of prevention? Here the opinions of the experts differ. Some believe that it is not necessary to conduct preventive treatment, since a nonspecific technique to prevent invasion and the use of folk remedies is enough.
And others argue that only drugs serve as a barrier between large-scale invasion and health, so only pharmacological drugs can 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 of various types of worms makes it possible to prevent large-scale invasions by timely destruction of individual helminths.
Helpful tips. To prevent infection of the whole family, it is recommended to drink a number of tablets from worms in the spring and autumn and regularly use folk remedies that allow you to create a microflora in the body unsuitable for the life of helminths. and also apply non-specific preventive measures that protect against the accidental entry of parasites into the body. This is especially true for people who keep pets and eat substandard foods.
Non-specific antihelminthic prophylaxis
These preventive measures will allow you to protect yourself from the attack of helminths without any financial costs.
This requires:
- Regularly observe hygiene standards: change bed and underwear in a timely manner, carry out water treatments, wash hands with soap and water before eating (especially after using public transport, toilets and shops).
- Visit the beach in beach shoes. There are many helminth larvae in the soil, which get into the sand from the animal's feces and enter the human body through cracks in the legs. Even after a walk on the beach in slippers, it is a good idea to wash your feet with soap to prevent worms from settling in your body.
- It is good to wash fruits and vegetables, fry meat and fish to destroy all available helminth larvae in these products.
- Strengthening of the immune system so that the body can cope better with helminth infestations and parasitic diseases.
- Carry out antihelminthic therapy in pets, because they too become infected with helminths and transmit them to humans.
- Do not drink water from unconfirmed sources. Worm larvae can live in the water for a long time, so before drinking it must be boiled, and it is better to completely replace it with purified water.
Sometimes a person does not have the opportunity to use these security measures, for example, during a long journey by train, bus, etc. Then the parasites have the opportunity to penetrate the unprotected body and attack it, so it is necessary to carry out prevention of wormsin children and adults.
Prevention of helminths in humans: medication
Currently, there are many antihelminthic drugs, but it is not recommended to prescribe the treatment yourself. This must be done by a specialist who knows the properties of the drugs and how to choose the right dosage for your body. Preventive treatment of worms in humans should be aimed at destroying young worms and maintaining the body.
As you know, many drugs must not be taken with alcohol. This reduces the effectiveness of the drug and increases side effects. If you want to achieve a positive result of treatment, you should exclude alcohol from your diet 1 week before taking any medication and for 30 days after the prevention of helminth infestation.
Folk methods of preventing worms in humans
Traditional medicine also shows good results in the prevention of helminthiasis. Some herbal remedies create an uncomfortable atmosphere in the digestive system for the worms to live in, forcing them to exit the host's body. Before using these recipes, you should consult a doctor, because of their bitter properties, they can further injure a person with diseases of the digestive system or kidneys.
- Nut tincture on alcoholprepared as follows: take a glass of chopped walnut partitions, pour in a glass of vodka. Ready infusion can be taken in a day, 5-7 drops on an empty stomach, for 10-15 days.
- A decoction of wormwood and tansy: First of all, you need to grind the herbs, making 2 tbsp. Pour boiling water over the spoons of the collection, insist and take 100-150 ml. within a month.
- garlichas no contraindications and is available to everyone. For the prevention of helminthiasis, you should eat 2-3 cloves of garlic every day.
- pumpkin seedhave good antiparasitic activity. You need to eat 2 cups of pumpkin seeds on an empty stomach at least 1 time per week. Also from this product you can make healing anthelmintic tinctures.
- carrot rootwill be useful for the prevention of helminths in the form of juice. You need to crush 1 carrot, strain the juice and drink before meals.
- Ashes from linden branches: Ash has long been known for its healing properties. The ash of the linden branches has anthelmintic properties, so it is still used today. For the prevention of helminthiasis, you need to put 1 teaspoon of ash in a glass of milk and drink it on an empty stomach.
Medicines according to the above recipes should be taken 1 time per week. If a person has not had protection against helminths for a long time, then these funds need to be drunk daily for 2 weeks, and then switch to weekly use.
Traditional medicine has many anthelmintics to combat parasitic worms. Earlier, grandfathers and great-grandfathers used these remedies because they act on worms and do not harm the human body. Consequently, prevention with folk remedies does not require a lot of effort and money on medicines, but you cannot do without drug prevention either, especially if you suspect the presence of an invasion in the initial stages.