What parasites can live in the human body and how to fight them properly?

Before starting treatment against parasites, it is important to determine exactly which type is present in the body.This is necessary to select effective treatment methods, since most drugs are developed specifically to eliminate a specific type of helminths.

Are worms protozoa?

Sometimes you can hear the phrase that the patient is infected with protozoan worms.It is necessary to understand that protozoa are exclusively unicellular microorganisms and, in extreme cases, they organize colonies.But they are never multicellular, like worms and helminths.

In protozoa, all processes occur within the cell cytoplasm and cell nuclei, while in worms the anatomical organization is much more complex: they have differentiated organs that perform special physiological functions.Therefore, it is fundamentally wrong to classify worms as protozoa.

Helminths are sometimes called protozoan parasites in comparison with insects: bedbugs, lice, etc., since the latter are much higher on the evolutionary scale.In this interpretation, naming the worms as protozoa is acceptable.

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The most common parasites

The most common endoparasites are, of course, helminths (worms), which, according to various sources, infect more than 80% of the world's population.

A large number of these parasites are divided into main types:

• nematodes - roundworms (roundworms, pinworms, Trichinella, whipworms, etc.);
• cestodes – tapeworms (tapeworms, porcine and bovine tapeworms, echinococci, etc.);
• trematodes - worms (liver, blood, lung and also worms that live in the intestines).

Sometimes you can find a more general classification, according to which all types of human parasites are divided into:

• luminal (intestinal), parasite in the intestines;
• tissue, located in other organs and tissues.

Let's look at a brief description of the most common types of helminths.

Roundworms (nematodes)

• Roundworms are the most common roundworms, 20 to 40 cm long, parasites in the small intestine, but first migrate in the human body, affecting the circulatory and respiratory systems.Along with the intestines, these parasites can be found in the liver and gallbladder, heart and lungs.A common symptom of ascariasis is an allergic reaction.
• Pinworms are small worms measuring up to 1 cm that affect the intestine and lead to enterobiasis with gastrointestinal disorders, exhaustion, sleep disorders, etc.
• Trichinella - these microscopic worms (their size is only a few millimeters) lead to serious disease - trichinosis, which can lead to death if left untreated.The adult species live in the human body in the muscles (respiratory, facial, etc.), causing muscle pain, fever, swelling and allergic skin rashes.
• Whipworms are small worms (up to 4.5 cm long, with the front part of the body

thread-shaped), whose larvae cause trichuriasis with diarrhea, acute abdominal pain and other symptoms similar to appendicitis.Due to intoxication of the body, anemia develops.

Tapeworms (cestodes)

• The large tapeworm, whose body length reaches 10 m, leads to the development of diphyllobothriasis with nausea, weakness, vomiting, unstable stool, asthenia and anemia.
• Pork tapeworm is 3 to 8 m long, parasitizes mainly in the small intestine and causes two diseases at the same time: taeniasis with dyspeptic, astheno-neurotic and abdominal syndromes, and cysticercosis with intoxication, intestinal, allergic and respiratory syndromes.Depending on the location of the cysticerci, muscles, brain, heart, eyes, etc.
• The bovine tapeworm, which can reach up to 18 m in length, causes teniaringiasis and is considered one of the most dangerous types of worms.If deworming is not done, it can live in the human body for up to 18 to 20 years!Located in the large intestine, it causes severe waste poisoning, as well as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, anemia, allergic reactions and nervous system problems.
• The dwarf tapeworm, only 1.5-5 cm long, is a source of hymenolepiasis with dyspeptic, painful and astheno-neurotic syndromes, which mainly affect the digestive and nervous systems of the body, as well as the liver.
• Echinococcus is considered the smallest tapeworm - its length is only 2.5 to 8, rarely 9 mm, but infection with it has dire consequences in the form of damage to the liver and lungs, where cysts and tumors form, causing dysfunction of these organs.

Fluke worms (trematodes)

• The liver fluke, or liver fluke, is leaf-shaped, 30-50 mm long and 8-13 mm wide, and has suckers.It damages the lining of the liver and, by obstructing the bile ducts, can completely block the flow of bile.It can cause cirrhosis, jaundice and liver cancer.
• Cat (Siberian) worm, or cat worm, is a flat worm 4 to 13 mm long.Location - ducts of the gallbladder, liver and pancreas.It causes opisthorchiasis with the development of gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis, cholecystitis and even liver cancer, which can be fatal.
• Lungworm has an ovoid shape, reddish-brown body with small spines ranging from 7.5 to 12 mm in length and 4-8 mm in width.It affects the lungs, causing inflammation, exudative pleurisy, focal fibrosis and lung cancer.When penetrating the brain, it causes encephalitis and meningoencephalitis.
• Schistosomes (bloodworms) are dioecious worms 1 to 2 cm in size, whose eggs cause enlargement of the liver, spleen and lymph nodes, the formation of polyps in the intestines, diarrhea, granulomatous inflammation, leading to bladder cancer.

Diseases they cause

The most dangerous parasites living in the human body can cause a variety of diseases.Often, a disease caused by a specific parasite has the same name.So, various types of parasites in the human body can cause the following diseases:

• certain parasites within humans (worms) cause trematodes;
• Cestodoses occur when infected with tapeworms;
• if an adult or child has roundworms in the intestines, nematodes will be diagnosed;
• leeches cause hirudinosis;
• Anthocephalosis is caused by acanthocephalans.

However, parasites in the human body can affect more than one organ.Depending on the location of parasites in the human body, the following parasitic diseases are distinguished:

1. When the eyes are affected, onchocerciasis, demodicosis, cysticercosis and myiasis can occur;
2. Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract caused by unicellular parasites and helminths are ascariasis, trichinosis, hookworm, enterobiasis, intestinal myiasis and metagonimiasis;
3. Brain diseases - echinococcosis, toxoplasmosis, alveococcosis and cysticercosis;
4. Dermatological diseases – demodicosis, pediculosis, scabies, pulicosis, thrombodiasis, phthiriasis;
5. Lung pathologies – echinococcosis, ascariasis, acariasis, alveococcosis, tominxosis, etc.;
6. Liver diseases – opisthorchiasis, alveococcosis, echinococcosis, clonorchiasis;
7. In the mouth, ears and oral cavity, parasites can cause different types of myiasis;
8. Cardiac pathologies – heartworm and echinococcosis;
9. Diseases of the genitourinary system – alveococcosis, urate myiasis, echinococcosis;
10. Vascular pathologies – filariasis and schistosomiasis.

Flatworms

Parasitic flatworms, or flukes (worms), have a characteristic leaf-like body shape.Their structure is quite organized - they have a digestive, excretory and nervous system.They change hosts during their life cycle.

The following types have become widespread:

1. Siberian worm (cat worm) or opisthorchis.Most often, infection occurs through raw fish, which leads to the appearance of a rather dangerous disease - opisthorchiasis.Parasites multiply very quickly, which can cause serious consequences.The worms have a yellowish color and their length can exceed 12 m.When establishing themselves in the human body, these parasites cause internal bleeding, interrupt the flow of bile and cause pancreatic dysfunction.Dangerous consequences: purulent cholangitis, achylia, cholangiocarcinoma.

2. Liver fluke.The intermediate host is cattle, and humans become infected by eating poorly processed meat from affected animals.As a result of infection, the disease fascioliasis develops.These worms are relatively small (no more than 5-6 cm), but they can provoke dangerous pathologies: liver abscesses, cholangitis, hepatitis.Through the blood, the parasite larvae can spread throughout the body.
3. Schistosome.The worm is able to settle in blood vessels, consuming blood components.As a result of its vital activity, the development of varicose veins and tumor formations is possible.The main symptom is intense general intoxication.

In the human body you can find a large number of different parasitic worms that can settle in various internal organs.They all cause chronic diseases that can cause serious pathologies.If signs of helminthiasis of any type appear, you should consult a doctor to begin appropriate treatment.

Bull tapeworm

The bovine tapeworm can reach up to 12 m in length.It is a hermaphrodite that can produce more than 100,000 eggs, which are excreted in excrement.The eggs fall to the soil and then onto plants, and these plants are consumed by livestock.In the animal's body, the eggs transform into larvae, which are located in the muscles.If a person eats contaminated meat, the larvae enter the intestine.The larvae are not transmitted from person to person.

Adult worms have a head with four suckers, a neck and a body made up of segments.The number of segments is constantly growing;mature segments can separate from the worm and exit the human intestine.

Bull tapeworm

Symptoms of the disease are nausea, vomiting, dyspeptic disorders, increased salivation, dizziness, weakness, nervousness, fatigue, abdominal pain of undetermined location, allergies, fluctuations in appetite.

To remove bovine tapeworm from the body, there is a scheme consisting of 3 stages: preparatory (cleansing the body), treatment with antiparasitics, recovery (diet, herbal medicine).

Tapeworms

Tapeworms, or cestodes, include a variety of flatworms, the length of which can vary from 2 mm to 10-12 m.The body of these parasites has a specific structure - numerous segments, a neck and a head with suction cups (hooks) for attaching to walls.The cestode is hermaphrodite and the eggs are located in the segments.The worm absorbs nutrients from the entire surface of the body.

The following common types of tapeworms are distinguished:

1. Alveococcus.They can cause cholangitis and abscess, in addition to spreading to the spleen, muscles and brain.
2. Tapeworms or tapeworms.The bovine tapeworm causes the disease teniarynchosis and is usually located in the small intestine.Serious complications - cholecystitis, intestinal obstruction, appendicitis.This worm can lead to the following consequences: atrophy of the intestinal mucosa, Gunther's glossitis, leukopenia.

Protozoan parasites

Toxoplasma gondii is a type of parasite whose main host is cats.They can also be carried by warm-blooded animals and humans.The disease caused by toxoplasma is called toxoplasmosis.The course of the disease is mild, with the exception of damage to the fetus inside the mother's womb during pregnancy, which has serious consequences for both mother and fetus, even death.

The amoeba is a simple single-celled organism considered one of the first creatures to live on Earth.The disease caused by the amoeba is called amoebiasis.Intestinal infection, with a predominant ulcerative lesion of the large intestine with the appearance of bloody diarrhea, possible formation of secondary intestinal lesions, with a tendency to be chronic.

The malaria plasmodium is the simplest single-celled creature, in the development cycle of which a person is a temporary host, and a mosquito is a permanent host.In the human body, the parasitic plasmodium is represented by 4 species:

• P. malaria – four-day malaria;
• P.vivax - three-day malaria;
• P.ovale - three-day ovale malaria;
• P.falciparum – tropical malaria;

The length of the interval between bursts depends on the type of pathogen.In addition to all this, anemia develops, as plasmodium affects red blood cells.

Giardia is a pear-shaped protozoan that has two nuclei and four pairs of flagella.The main source is pigs and people.Giardiasis is a common disease that mainly affects the liver and small intestine.The disease can occur in mild and severe forms.

Trichomonas are flagellated, unicellular, pear-shaped organisms that cause the disease trichomoniasis, are sexually transmitted and affect the genitourinary system.It is noticeable that both men and women are affected, but in men the disease is usually asymptomatic.

Trypanosomes are a genus of unicellular flagellated protozoa.Trypanosomiasis causes a serious illness, and sleeping sickness is deadly to humans.Trypanosomes are transmitted by bedbugs and tsetse flies.In the host's body, the parasite multiplies under the skin and then penetrates the lymphatic system and blood.Most pathogens are located in the spinal cord and brain, where they destroy cells and release their toxins.