Despite today's development of civilization and modern medicine, various microorganisms remain in this world to live, multiply and harm. 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 should be fought.
Helminths and their larvae use the human body for their own development and reproduction, while extracting nutrients, depriving the bearer of the opportunity 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. That is why, every person needs the prevention of various 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 enter the vector. It is children who are most often infected, because they often play in the sand, come into contact with the soil and animals, and also do not always eat well-processed berries. Adults are often infected by their own children or by failing to comply with basic hygiene rules.
Experts recorded the following ways of penetration of helminths into the body:
- If a person after an active day sat down to dinner without washing his hands, then together with food he will consume the microbes, bacteria and helminth eggs collected during the day, which will lead to infection. Also, an invasion can occur if a person puts their dirty hands in their mouth.
- Unwashed vegetables or fruits come into contact with the soil or limbs of the infected. Insufficient processing of such products leads to infection in the manner described above.
- Lightly processed meat and fish products. Processing meat products is necessary to destroy the helminth larvae contained in them, preventing them from entering the body and starting to develop.
- Using untreated water can also act as a source of infection, as worm larvae may be present in the water.
- Flies and insects come into contact with soil containing helminth eggs, so they can carry worm larvae on their legs and place them on food consumed by humans.
- When swimming in open water, a person is able to swallow water containing parasite eggs and thus cause infections.
- With direct contact with contaminated soil, helminthic invasion can also occur, because some helminths can enter the human body through microcracks in the skin.
- Regular treatment of pets is necessary, because animals do not eat a nutritious diet at all and often eat raw meat from tapeworm-infected mice.
- Exotic cuisine, water from an unverified source, insects and foreign animals can instantly strike a person, because in exotic countries it is not customary to process every product well (there are countries where a diet of raw food or meat with blood is welcome ).
Symptoms of helminth infestation
Sometimes the disease can manifest itself without symptoms, so an annual examination of the body for helminthiasis is recommended. Diagnosis should be made by the whole family, because one person's infection endangers the rest of the family. When signs of helminth invasion appear, it is urgent to visit a doctor in order to receive timely medical treatment.
Helminths cause the following symptoms:
- Physical weakness and high thermometer readings.
- Pain in the head and whirling.
- state of apathy.
- Pain in the abdomen.
- Sensation of itching in the anus.
- Splenic and hepatic enlargement.
- Skin rashes, in the form of dermatosis or hives.
- Nausea, diarrhea alternating with constipation, vomiting.
- Anemia, hypovitaminosis.
- Bad smell from the mouth.
- Sudden weight loss or sudden hunger can occur, leading to obesity.
After listening to your complaints, the parasitologist will prescribe remedies to eliminate helminth symptoms and their pathogen, based on the severity of the invasion. If no worm larvae were found during the examination, he will recommend medications suitable for use as a 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 prevention purposes? Here the opinions of the experts diverge. Some believe that it is not necessary to carry out preventive treatment, since a non-specific technique is enough to prevent the invasion and use of folk remedies.
And others argue that only drugs act as a barrier between large-scale invasion and health, so only pharmacological drugs 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 the prevention of various types of worms allows you to prevent large-scale invasions by destroying individual helminths in a timely manner.
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 preventive measures that protect against accidental penetration of parasites into the body. This is especially true of people who keep pets and eat low-quality food.
Nonspecific anthelmintic prophylaxis
These preventive measures allow you to protect yourself from helminth attack without financial costs.
This will require:
- Regularly comply with hygiene rules: change bed and linen in a timely manner, carry out water procedures, wash hands with soap and water before meals (especially after visiting public transport, bathrooms 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 the cracks in the legs. Even after walking the beach in flip flops, washing your feet with soap is recommended to prevent worms from settling in your body.
- It is good to wash fruits and vegetables, fry meat and fish to destroy all helminth larvae available in these products.
- Strengthen the immune system so that the body can more easily cope with helminth infestations and diseases caused by parasites.
- Carry out anthelmintic therapy in pets, because they too become infected with helminths 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 they need to be boiled and it is better to completely replace them with purified water.
Sometimes a person does not have the opportunity to apply these safety measures, for example, during a long journey by train, bus, etc. Then parasites have the opportunity to penetrate the unprotected body and attack it, so it is necessary to carry out prevention from worms in children and adults.
Prevention against helminths in humans: drugs
Currently, there are many anthelmintic drugs, but self-prescribing treatment is not recommended. This must be done by a specialist who knows the characteristics of the drugs and how to choose the right dosage for your body. Preventive treatment for worms in humans should be aimed at the destruction of young worms and the maintenance of the body.
As you know, it is forbidden to take many drugs 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, it is necessary to exclude alcohol from the diet 1 week before taking the drugs and for 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 uncomfortable atmosphere in the digestive system in which worms can live, 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 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. Ready infusion can be taken in one day, 5-7 drops on an empty stomach, for 10-15 days.
- A decoction of wormwood and tansy: initially you will need to grind the aromatic herbs, following which 2 tbsp. Pour boiling water on the spoons of the collection, insist and take 100-150 ml. within a month.
- Garlicit has no contraindications and is within everyone's reach. For the prevention of helminthiasis, you should eat 2-3 cloves of garlic per day.
- Pumpkin seedshave a good anti-parasitic activity. You must eat 2 cups of pumpkin seeds on an empty stomach, at least once a week. Also from this product you can prepare healing antihelminth tinctures.
- carrot rootit will be useful for the prevention of helminths in the form of juice. You will need to mash 1 carrot, strain the juice and drink before meals.
- Ashes of lime tree branches: ash has long been famous for its healing properties. Ash from linden branches has anti-helminth properties, so it is also used today. For the prevention of helminthiasis, it is necessary to add 1 teaspoon of ash to a glass of milk and drink on an empty stomach.
Medicines according to the above recipes should be consumed 1 time per week. If a person has not had any protection against helminths for a long time, then these funds will need to be drunk every day for 2 weeks, then switch to weekly use.
Traditional medicine has many anthelmintic agents to fight parasitic worms. In the old days, grandparents and great-grandparents used these means, because they act on worms and do not harm the human body. As a result, prevention with folk remedies does not require much effort and expense on drugs, but you cannot do without drug prevention either, especially if you suspect the presence of an initial phase of invasion.