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 worst enemies of man to be fought against.
Helminths and their larvae use the human body for their own development and reproduction, while extracting nutrients from it, depriving the carrier of the ability to receive 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 number of diseases that lead to death. Therefore, every person needs prevention of various types of worms in order to prevent complications caused by helminthiasis.
Methods of helminth penetration into the human body
Given the number of helminths that can live in the human body, they have many ways to enter the carrier. Children are most often infected, because they often play in the sand, come into contact with the ground and animals, and do not always eat well-processed berries. Adults are most often infected by children or due to non-compliance with basic hygiene standards.
Experts have noted the following ways in which helminths enter the body:
- If a person sat down to dinner without washing their hands after an active day, then they will consume microbes, bacteria and helminth eggs collected during the day, which will lead to infection. Also, invasion can occur if a person puts dirty hands in their mouth.
- Unwashed vegetables or fruits come into contact with the soil or limbs of infected people. Insufficient 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 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, because worm larvae may be present in the water.
- Flies and insects come in contact with the soil that contains helminth eggs, which is why they can carry worm larvae on their paws and put them on food consumed by humans.
- When swimming in open water, a person can swallow water containing parasite eggs and thus cause infection.
- Direct contact with contaminated soil can lead to helminth invasion, because some helminths can enter the human body through microcracks in the skin.
- Regular treatment of pets is necessary, because the animals absolutely do not follow a nutritious diet, and often eat raw meat of mice infected with tapeworm.
- Exotic cuisine, water from an untested source, foreign insects and animals can instantly affect humans, because in exotic countries it is not common to process every product well (there are countries where raw food or meat with blood is welcome).
Symptoms of helminth infestation
Sometimes the disease can occur without symptoms, so an annual examination of the organism for helminthiasis is recommended. The diagnosis should be made by the whole family, because the infection of one person endangers the rest of the family. When signs of helminthic invasion appear, it is necessary to visit a doctor immediately to get timely medical help.
Helminths cause the following symptoms:
- Physical weakness and elevated thermometer readings.
- Headache and vortex.
- 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, diarrhea alternating with constipation, vomiting.
- Anemia, hypovitaminosis.
- Bad breath.
- Sudden weight loss or sudden hunger can occur, which can lead to obesity.
After hearing your complaints, the parasitologist will prescribe medications to eliminate the symptoms of helminthic infections and their pathogens, depending on the severity of the invasion. If no worm larvae are found during the examination, then they will advise medications suitable for use as prophylaxis.
Advantages and disadvantages of worm prevention
Many are wondering if it is still necessary to take measures and use specially designed worm medicines for prevention? Here the opinions of experts differ. Some believe that it is not necessary to carry out preventive treatment, because a non-specific technique is sufficient to prevent invasion and the use of folk remedies.
And others argue that only drugs serve as a barrier between large-scale invasion and health, so only pharmacological drugs will help prevent the outbreak of helminthiasis in the population.
It is known that the disease is easier to prevent than to get rid of later, and the prevention of various types of worms allows to prevent large invasions by timely destruction of individual helminths.
Useful tips. To prevent infection of the whole family, it is recommended to drink a course of worm tablets in spring and autumn, occasionally use folk remedies that allow you to create microflora in the body that is not suitable for helminth life, and also apply non-specific preventive measures to protect against accidental parasite infestation. in the body. This is especially true for people who keep pets and eat poor quality food.
Nonspecific anthelmintic prophylaxis
These preventative measures allow you to protect yourself from helminth attacks without financial costs.
This will require:
- Regularly adhere to hygiene standards: change your bed and underwear in a timely manner, perform water procedures, wash your hands with soap and water before meals (especially after visiting public transport, bathrooms and shops).
- Visit the beach in beach shoes. There are many helminthic larvae in the soil, which enter the sand from the feces of the animal 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 in your body.
- It is good to wash fruits and vegetables, fry meat and fish in order to destroy all available helminth larvae in these products.
- Strengthen the immune system to help the body cope with helminths and diseases caused by parasites.
- Conduct anthelmintic therapy in pets, because they also become infected with helminths and transmit them to humans.
- Do not drink water from untested sources. Worm larvae can live in water for a long time, so they must be boiled before drinking, and it is better to completely replace it with purified water.
Sometimes a person does not have the opportunity to apply these safety measures, for example, during a long trip 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 the prevention of worms in children and adults.
Prevention against helminths in humans: drugs
There are currently many anthelmintic drugs, but self-prescribing is not recommended. This must be done by a specialist who knows the characteristics of the medication and how to choose the dose that suits your body. Preventive treatment of worms in humans should be aimed at destroying young worms and maintaining the body.
As you know, many drugs 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 of the treatment, you should exclude alcohol from your diet 1 week before taking the medication and 30 days after the prevention of helminth infestation.
Folk methods for the prevention of worms in humans
Traditional medicine also shows good results in the prevention of helminthiasis. Some herbal remedies create an unpleasant atmosphere in the digestive system for the life of the worm, which is why they are forced to leave the body of the host. Before using these recipes, you should consult a doctor, because due to their bitter properties, they can further injure a person who has diseases of the digestive system or kidneys.
- Tincture of nuts on alcoholprepared as follows: take a glass of chopped walnut partitions, pour a glass of vodka. The finished infusion can be taken in one day, 5-7 drops on an empty stomach, 10-15 days.
- Wormwood and tansy decoction: initially you will need to grind the herbs, as a result 2 tbsp. Pour spoons of the collection over boiling water, 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 need to eat 2 cups of pumpkin seeds on an empty stomach, at least once a week. You can also prepare medicinal anthelmintic tinctures from this product.
- carrot rootwill be useful for the prevention of helminths in the form of juice. You need to mash 1 carrot, strain the juice and drink before meals.
- Ash from linden branches: Ash has long been known for its healing properties. Ash linden branches have anthelmintic properties, so it is still used today. To prevent helminthiasis, it is necessary to add 1 teaspoon of ash to a glass of milk and drink on an empty stomach.
Medications according to the above recipes 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 switched to weekly use.
Traditional medicine has many anthelmintic agents to fight parasitic worms. In ancient times, grandparents and great-grandparents used these remedies because they act on worms and do not harm the human body. Consequently, prevention of folk remedies does not require much effort and spending money on drugs, but you can not do without drug prevention, especially if you suspect the presence of the initial phase of the invasion.