Parasites are disease-causing organisms that can inhabit the human body, animals and even some plants. There are many types of creatures in the world that penetrate the host's body, feed on its useful substances, actively multiply and leave waste products in his body, which leads to the development of all kinds of diseases.
Most often, worms are found in humans. These are worms of various lengths and sizes, which live mainly in the intestines of vertebrates. But some helminths can migrate throughout the body, invading the muscles, liver, heart, joints, lungs, and even the brain.
Worms harm their host's body, so everyone should know how to determine the presence of parasites in the body. But many people do not want to go to the hospital, waste time and be unreasonably tested for helminths.
In this case, a person can find out whether there are parasites in the body by paying attention to such an important criterion as the characteristic symptoms that develop with a certain type of helminthiasis. What if they aren't there? This does not happen!
However, in the initial stage of the helminthic invasion, signs of vital activity of foreign microorganisms are poorly expressed or are completely absent. The clinical picture becomes intense and pronounced only when helminths are actively developing, because their larvae cannot parasitize in humans.
How to establish the presence of worms in the body without medical research?
Different types of parasites cause characteristic symptoms in the host. If they are identified in a timely manner and correctly decrypted, this will allow to determine the infection even at an early stage.
Thus, the likelihood of misdiagnosis is minimized, which will allow for correct and effective deworming using popular or medical antiparasitic agents.
So, to identify parasites in the human body, it is necessary to pay attention to the symptoms:
- Grinding your teeth at night.
- Allergic rashes - acne, acne, hives, herpes on the lips, eczema, red spots, papillomas, neurodermatitis, psoriasis, etc.
- Development of diseases of the upper respiratory tract (bronchitis, pneumonia, runny nose), which is characteristic of ascariasis and strongyloidosis.
- Swelling and diarrhea appear due to the fact that long worms interfere with the excretion of bile and pancreatic juice.
- Constipation occurs when the worms form a ball that blocks the passage into the intestine.
- Discomfort in the joints and muscles due to the migration of parasites.
- Severe irritability caused by painful symptoms.
- A persistent dry cough that cannot be treated with standard antitussive medications.
An increase in body temperature to subfebrile values is also observed. The causes of this condition can lie in allergies, blood poisoning, neurological disorders, disruptions in the functioning of internal organs and the brain, and anemic syndrome.
In addition, the worm living in a person greatly reduces his immunity, as a result of which the patient often suffers from a cold. In addition, the patient develops a prolonged depression caused by intoxication of the body.
The characteristic symptoms of helminthiasis are nausea and vomiting, also caused by the release of toxic substances. In addition, some types of worms can live in the human body, producing specific hormones that act on the intestinal microflora, causing diarrhea.
However, in some cases, such symptoms are not attributed to helminthiasis, as they are similar to signs of food poisoning. Although this can become a serious problem, as the later treatment is started, the more damage to their host's organs and systems the parasites will have time to inflict.
Therefore, to detect helminthiasis at home, it is necessary to carry out some kind of test. To this end, the following questions must be answered:
- Itching in the anus at night?
- Are the lymph nodes swollen?
- Are there any rashes?
- How often does insomnia occur?
- Do you suffer from vomiting and nausea?
- Are there joint and muscle pains?
- How often does flatulence develop?
- How often does the taste of bitterness appear in the mouth?
If a person gave seven affirmative answers to these questions, then with a high probability it can be argued that his body is infected with worms.
How to identify the type of helminthiasis from the symptoms?
At home, you can determine which helminths inhabited the human body. But this can only be done if the parasitosis has reached the active stage of its development.
Ascariasis and diphyllobothriasis are characterized by more intense neurological signs in young patients. Aggressive behavior and increased nervousness are due to the effects of toxic substances on the nervous system. For similar reasons, an infected person develops migraines and dizziness.
As a rule, trichinosis is accompanied by joint and muscle pain, as well as swelling of the face and eyelids. This is due to the peculiarities of Trichinella's life, which live in the skeletal muscles. You can become infected with this parasite if you eat meat from a wild animal or pork, which has been poorly heat treated.
Giardiasis affects the functioning of the liver and kidneys and causes all kinds of allergic reactions. Also, some people, when the body is damaged by lamblia, suffer from arthritis, which develops as a result of intoxication. Also, in an invasive patient, immunity is weakened, against the background of this, the following diseases develop:
- sinusitis;
- stomatitis;
- bacterial vaginosis and so on.
A characteristic sign of pinworm enterobiasis is itching in the anal canal. In addition, most infected people experience disruptions in the work of the gastrointestinal tract.
The anemic syndrome is characteristic of schistosomiasis. There are also manifestations of dysbiosis (pathogenic microorganisms inhibit favorable microflora).
With chloronchiasis, fascionellosis and optorchiasis, the gallbladder is affected and jaundice syndrome develops. Also, against the background of the course of these helminthiases, the liver and spleen increase.
Strongyloidiasis occurs with a variety of symptoms. So, with its progression, there are malfunctions in the gastrointestinal tract, dyspeptic disorders and allergic manifestations.
How to determine if there are helminth eggs without laboratory conditions? When worms are multiplying, it is quite easy to detect their presence in the body. To do this, it is necessary to carry out an analysis for parasite eggs.
With the development of opisthorchiasis, you can conduct a home study on your own. For this purpose, duct tape or duct tape should be applied to the skin in the anal area.
It is best to perform this procedure immediately after waking up in the morning. If a person has opisthorchia, their eggs will be identified on the sticky surface of the tape.
Laboratory methods for the detection of parasites
If a patient has more than three characteristic symptoms of helminthiasis, she should contact a medical institution so that the determination of the presence of parasites at home can be confirmed in the laboratory.
The first step in case of a suspicion of helminthic invasion is the study of feces. This allows you to identify tapeworm eggs, round helminths and flukes. However, for accurate confirmation of the diagnosis, tests need to be done three times every few days.
To determine enterobiasis, a curettage is performed near the anus. In addition, one of the most accurate and convenient tests for the patient is ELISA, which allows you to detect antibodies in the blood produced by the body when parasitizing pathogenic microorganisms.
Sometimes diagnostics of bioresonance is performed, which studies the frequency of parasites. This method is very instructive, as it determines the state of the body as a whole. In addition, in addition to parasites, such a study makes it possible to find out the state of immunity, which weakens it, to identify other diseases, as well as pathogenic fungi, bacteria and viruses.