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How to determine the presence of parasites in the human body - check yourself and your loved ones

abdominal worms pain

Today we will talk about how to determine the presence of parasites in the human body, which symptoms may indicate their presence and which instrumental diagnostic methods are most effective. The symptoms of helminthiasis are sometimes very difficult to recognize, because many of the signs are similar in nature to other diseases. To protect yourself, you must know how to accurately determine the presence of parasites. So - this article is only for a healthy person who is concerned about the health of the whole family.

Many of my friends ask if it is possible to identify helminths at home or it is better to consult a specialist. So that you understand which method best shows their presence, I wrote this material. The article will reveal these points: how to identify parasites in the human body - traditional and non-traditional methods.

We correctly diagnose parasites in the human body

You may find that a person is plagued by parasites due to their appearance and the work of the whole organism - the presence of helminths is clearly noticeable. The signals that the body gives cannot always be interpreted correctly for the simple reason that the symptoms are very similar to those typical of other common diseases.

So don't self-medicate - it won't affect helminths. If you notice recurring symptoms of anxiety, it is best to see a doctor.

How to find out if an adult has parasites

Worms can remain in the body for a long time without showing any obvious signs, having entered the human body with a touch of the animal, while eating unwashed fruits and vegetables.

It is important to know how to understand if a person has worms, because the consequences of prolonged worms activity on the body can result in serious health problems for a person.

As soon as the worms begin their activity in the body, it is very difficult to "calculate" them, so there are no symptoms in the early stages of the infection. Obvious symptoms of worms in the body begin to appear when the parasites begin to multiply and lead an active life, literally feeding on the human body and depleting it.

The signs of parasites in adults will be as follows:

  • prolonged or episodic diarrhea (this symptom can be caused by the fact that some types of parasites secrete an enzyme that causes intestinal disorders, as well as by the fact that the parasites cause disturbances in the digestive tract);
  • bloating, gas, discomfort in the abdomen;
  • bile constipation and stagnation - the worms, which are large in size, can block the bile ducts, which in turn causes constipation (the same happens if the parasites multiply and remain in the body in colonies);
  • allergy, which occurs due to the fact that worms weaken the immune system, as well as due to the fact that the activity of worms poisons the body, and allergy is the body's inability to deal with these poisons and attacks;
  • irritable bowel cider - occurs because the worms constantly irritate the walls of the intestines, which makes them inflamed;
  • pain in the muscles and joints - some types of worms can live in the joint fluid and cause injury to the muscles and joints, which causes the same discomfort as arthrosis;
  • presence of dermatitis, hives, eczema and other skin rashes;
  • acne, pimples, hair loss, yellowing under the eyes - all of this speaks of worms, as they strip the body of the nutrients necessary to maintain a normal appearance;
  • anemia - a symptom that arises due to the fact that the parasites adhere to the intestinal walls and suck blood from the vessels;
  • marked weight loss as a result of gastrointestinal disorders and increased appetite

It is possible to understand that a person has worms if at least 5 of the above symptoms appear.

By itself, grinding your teeth in a dream has nothing to do with worms! This is a symptom of malfunction of the nervous system. Finding these symptoms in yourself is the first stage. The follow-up actions aim to confirm the diagnosis and determine which were the parasites that attacked the organism.

How to find out if a child has worms

Children are more susceptible to worm infection, which can be caused by their close contact with the outside world, as well as by the use of common utensils and bathrooms in kindergartens and schools.

Since parents cannot keep up with what the child is playing, it is important that they know the symptoms of parasites in children, which, unlike adults, are much more pronounced.

In preschoolers and school children, the signs of parasites are as follows:

  1. Acute or painful belly pain;
  2. Swelling;
  3. diarrhea, constipation or vomiting;
  4. Expresses apathy, lethargy.

There are several additional symptoms by which it can be understood that worms, roundworms and lamblia have settled on the child's body:

  • night itch in the anal area;
  • restless sleep;
  • weakened immunity and frequent colds in this context.

In addition to alerting parents to these symptoms, they can also do home tests for parasites on children.

There are two ways to do this:

  1. In the morning, you should apply tape to the child's anus and then examine that piece of tape with a magnifying glass. If there are parasites, their eggs will be visible on the tape.
  2. Baby's feces can be seen, as roundworms sometimes come out with feces.
  3. Sometimes children get sick, then the traces can be found in the vomit, which come out that way when there are many of them in the stomach.

It is very difficult to identify the presence of worms in babies and in those patients who have the disease latently, because in the first case babies cannot declare themselves and tell about the symptoms, therefore, the parents have no reason to worry, and in the second case, the symptoms are simply absent.

Although there are some homemade methods for determining the presence of parasites in the body, only laboratory tests can establish this fact with certainty.

That is why it is important to be able to recognize the signs of parasites in the body and to contact medical institutions in time for diagnosis. Only an attentive attitude to your body will help to avoid complications with mumps, as well as their appearance in general.

How to determine the presence of parasites in the human body - diagnostic methods

According to the World Health Organization, every four inhabitants of the planet show signs of infection by parasites, even more people are potential carriers of helminths.

The presence of "illegal immigrants" does not pass without leaving a trace for the body - they poison it with the products of its vital activity, rebuild the functioning of the immune system, cause inflammatory changes in the digestive system and damage to other organs.

Helminthiasis can be disguised as various diseases, which complicates the timely diagnosis of parasites in the patient's body and leads to a delay in the pathological process.

Routine analyzes are not always reliable, some types of helminths can only be detected by expensive examination. Therefore, the question of how to identify parasites in the human body is very relevant for the majority of the world population.

The suspicion of the presence of a parasitic creature (or creatures) within the human body may not arise immediately. For a long time, “illegal immigrants” did not manifest themselves at all, especially in adults with good immunity.

However, there may be a suspicion of the presence of parasites in the body if there is a combination of several of the following:

  • Persistent and stubborn allergies - persistent rashes, itching, recurrent urticaria, dermatitis that does not respond to conventional therapy. Especially allergic skin reactions are found in echinococcosis, toxocariasis and ascariasis.

    Patients are usually diagnosed with bronchial asthma.

  • Weakened immunity - increasing susceptibility to viruses, pathogenic fungi and bacteria until the development of serious diseases like oncology, HIV.
  • Weight loss with increased or retained appetite.
  • Itching in the anus at night and at night - in combination with the detection of small live worms twitching in the stool, it is a hundred percent sign of moth infection and does not require additional tests.
  • Asthenia - weakness, increased fatigue, decreased performance, headache, sleep disorders. These symptoms are associated with constant poisoning of the nervous system by parasite toxins.
  • Dyspepsia - morning nausea, swelling, unstable diarrhea stools to constipation, increased salivation.

    These signs are not specific to determine the presence of parasites, they can be present in various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

  • Other symptoms - papillomas on the skin, cracked heels, "geographic tongue", anemia on blood tests, frequent difficult to treat cough, swelling of the legs, pain in the muscles and joints, etc.

Traditional analysis

The diagnosis of parasites that live in the human intestine is most often performed by a proven, yet affordable and reliable method of detecting your eggs in feces under a microscope. To do this, you need to collect fresh stools in a glass dish after independent stools, it is best to do it in the morning.

As a last resort, it is allowed to store the collected material for a maximum of 10 hours in the refrigerator. It turns out that it is necessary at least 3 times to donate worm feces for 2 or 3 weeks, which is associated with the peculiarities of the parasites' life cycle.

This test detects whether or not worms live inside the human body.

This method is effective for types of helminths such as:

  1. Strongylides (hookworms), roundworms, tricurids;
  2. Pig and bull tapeworms, broad tapeworm;
  3. Hepatic (feline) worm, schistosomes.

We often diagnose enterobiasis by means of night itching and worms in the stool, especially in children. There are ways to scrape the perianal area - at home using tape or in a clinic where the fence is made by a medical professional using a special spatula.

The reliability of this analysis is high if it is done in the morning, before feces and hygiene procedures. Sometimes, several repeated studies are needed every few days.

Not everyone likes to donate feces multiple times, so the question arises how to detect parasites in the human body using blood tests. Modern science offers three main methods:

  • PCR (polymerase chain reaction) - detection of DNA worms in human blood;
  • serological diagnosis (ELISA) - detection of antibodies against parasites;
  • genetic research - investigation of the pathogen's genome.

Blood tests are performed in specialized laboratories and are used to diagnose diseases such as:

  1. Echinococcosis;
  2. Opisthorchiasis;
  3. Giardiasis;
  4. Cystecrosis;
  5. Fascioliasis;
  6. Amoebic dysentery;
  7. Toxocariasis;
  8. Trichinosis.

In addition, the stage of the disease and the duration of the infection can be determined from the blood test.

Non-conventional diagnostics

Unwanted tenants can live in the host's body for decades. Symptoms of the diseases they cause usually appear when there are many helminths. Unfortunately, the detection of parasites in the human body also sometimes happens late.

Worms cannot always be found quickly by conventional means, even repeated fecal tests can give positive results not exceeding 20%.

Serological methods for diagnosing parasites in patients' bodies are more accurate and effective methods, especially when performed in the more advanced stages of the disease.

One of the most modern methods is the vegetative resonance test or bioresonance diagnosis, the essence of which is the recording of electromagnetic waves emitted by parasites with a characteristic frequency for their specific type.

Computer diagnosis is based on the use of special programs that allow comparative analysis of healthy and diseased organs in a patient.

Practical doctors do not always welcome this type of examination of the patient, preferring traditional examinations. However, everyone has the right to decide for themselves how to identify the parasites in the human body, the main thing is to do it on time and safely.

Diagnostic difficulties: how to find out if a person has worms

About 1. 2 billion people are infected with helminths every year. Furthermore, most do not even know it. Health problems, weakness, headache, problems in the gastrointestinal tract, we prefer to blame stress and malnutrition.

But these and other symptoms can signal the "invasion of strangers". How to find them and how to treat them? Helminthiasis is an insidious disease and can be masked by symptoms characteristic of a wide variety of diseases.

For example, if the parasites have settled in the lungs, the person will be disturbed by bouts of dry cough, which occur for no reason and do not disappear even after prolonged treatment.

If the worms have settled in the intestines, symptoms may manifest as abdominal discomfort, tendency to constipation or diarrhea, intolerance to fatty foods, nausea and edema. These complaints are not uncommon. You can treat for years, for example, gastritis or dysbiosis, without realizing that the cause of the malaise is the helminths that parasitize the human body.

What tests will help to identify parasites

If you suspect unwanted people in you or your child, you should contact a doctor and have an examination done. Diagnosing helminthiasis is not an easy task, as it is quite problematic to detect parasites.

The most common method is to test feces for worm eggs. But, unfortunately, it is ineffective, because worms have several stages of development and do not always lay eggs. To identify parasites, you need to do a stool test 3-4 times, while there is no guarantee that the analysis will show the actual image.

The method of immunological blood testing is considered more accurate.

This analysis allows the determination of the presence of antibodies to helminths in the body, helps to determine the type of parasites, their number, to trace the dynamics of the process development. It is recommended to have a blood test for worms regularly, especially if the family has small children and pets.

Recently, the presence of parasites was determined only by duodenal sounding and analysis of feces through microscopic studies, whose objective is to detect isolated helminths or their fragments, eggs and larvae.

Eggs and larvae of helminths that parasitize the liver, bile ducts, pancreas and duodenum have been found in the biliary and duodenal contents. Fecal samples were examined for intestinal forms of helminthiasis. If you suspectcar was examined for paragonimiasis, urine for urogenital schistosomiasis.

But the reliability of these studies depends on the professionalism of the team - whether the laboratory assistant will notice parasites during the microscopic examination.

In addition, if the parasite has not laid eggs at the time of verification, its presence will go unnoticed even with a highly qualified laboratory assistant. Often, only 8 to 10 attempts can give you a positive result.

Today, there are immunological studies that make it possible to determine in the blood of an infected person the presence of antigens and antibodies against parasites of various types. The reliability of such analyzes depends on the life cycle of the parasites and their quantity in the body:

  • The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is used to determine antibodies (immunoglobulins) and antigens (the parasites themselves, their metabolic products). Immunoglobulins (substances of a protein nature) are produced in the body and are anti-antigen antibodies. This method has high sensitivity and specificity, which is 90%.

    The main advantage of this method is the ability to determine the type of parasites, their number and the ability to track the dynamics of the process development, which is indicated by the level of antibodies.

  • ELISA tests are evidence of the body's response to invasion. In this case, laboratory tests that identify parasites or their larvae, cysts, eggs (microscopic examination of biological material) are also necessary. However, direct identification of the parasite is not always possible due to its location in the tissues (trichinosis, echinococcosis, toxocariasis) or due to the small number of parasitic individuals and its concentration in the test material. In these cases, the sensitivity of ELISA tests has a clear and unconditional advantage.
  • In the diagnosis of the acute phase of helminthiasis and diseases caused by tissue helminths or larval stages (echinococcosis, cysticercosis, trichinosis, toxocariasis), other serological methods (blood test methods) are widely used to detect antigens and antibodies: RNGA (indirect hemagglutination reaction), RAL (latex agglutination reaction), RSK (complement binding reaction), RIF (immunofluorescence reaction); as well as ultrasound and X-ray exams, computed tomography, endoscopy and endobiopsy.
  • PCR Diagnostics offers parasite analysis based on DNA analysis. This method can detect invasions of protozoa, viruses, as well as intracellular parasites (for example, chlamydia parasitizing in Trichomonas).

    But this method does not allow to reveal the severity of the invasion - the number of parasites in the body.

  • Energy information medicine offers bioresonance diagnostics based on the fact that each object and living thing creates a certain frequency of vibration, by which they are identified. And even though there are no symptoms of the disease yet, this method can identify the pathogen.

What you need to know about testing egg worms

In order not to retake the tests, it is important to take into account several nuances when donating feces in an egg worm:

  1. It is necessary to remove material for analysis, that is, feces, approximately 2 to 3 hours after meals.
  2. Intestinal emptying should take place at most 24 hours before the test.
  3. The most accurate results can be obtained if the analysis is done 30 minutes after emptying.
  4. Store the material for analysis in a cold place in a closed plastic or glass container.
  5. The material must be removed from the sides, the middle and the beginning and end of the stool.

In addition, they may prescribe an analysis, such as an smear for enterobiasis.

It is performed as follows: the assistant holds a special stick in the region between the buttocks - where the anus is located. It is this analysis that helps to identify the presence of worms in the body.

What symptoms indicate a parasite infestation

Most of the time, a person wonders how to determine if there are parasites in the body, when the state of health may already be seriously impaired. The problem of parasitism is underestimated in society and is not as prominent in preventive medicine as it would be desired.

People tend to ignore the signs of harm to the body caused by unwanted people until the vital activity of the parasites affects normal health. To recognize the parasitic enemy in time and successfully get rid of it, you must know the main signs of its presence in the body.

Unwanted guests

Parasites are a variety of life forms that survive in the host's body. Human parasites can live on the skin's surface, infect mucous membranes, internal organs and cells, feed on tissues and blood.

They steal the owner, consuming nutrients from food, while constantly poisoning the human body with the products of its vital activity.

Types of parasites by habitat in the human body:

  • Endoparasites are inferior animals and plant organisms that live within the host. These are helminths (worms), lamblia, toxoplasma, echinococcus, parasitic protozoa and other organisms. This category also includes viruses, fungi and bacteria.
  • Ectoparasites are parasites that live on the surface of the body, in the environment, feeding on blood and human tissue cells. The most common are lice, bedbugs, ticks, fleas, kandiru catfish, as well as diptera (mosquitoes, flies, flies).

It is quite simple to determine the defeat of the human body by ectoparasites, since their activity is often characterized by pronounced symptoms:

  1. Itching;
  2. Rash;
  3. Recording;
  4. Redness;
  5. Pain at the bite site;
  6. The presence of a visible bite or penetrating wound.

The diagnostic analysis is performed by means of visual identification or microscopy (magnification under the microscope).

It is much more difficult to find ectoparasites, because in the process of evolution, the internal "parasites" learned to feel good and to perform destructive work on the host's body, practically not manifesting themselves.

Protozoa and helminths (worms) - man's oldest companions, insidious and dangerous neighbors, can be especially proud of this ability. There is evidence that, from the moment of infection until the onset of symptoms, indicating the presence of intruders, it can take from several months to ten years.

External manifestations

Most parasites have a long life cycle and reproduce very actively in the host's body, causing diseases characterized by a recurrent and chronic course.

External manifestations of parasite infestation include:

  1. Various types of allergic reactions, expressed:
      rash
    • ;
    • itching;
    • hives;
    • Quincke's edema;
      • fever
    • .

    The degree of manifestation of the allergy depends on the location of the parasite in the body, its contact with tissues and organs, as well as the amount of toxins released.

  2. Disorders of the digestive tract (vomiting, nausea, belching, indigestion, salivation).
  3. Skin lesions (eczema, ulcers, dermatitis, papillomas, acne, acne).
  4. Pale skin and mucous membranes.
  5. Cosmetic problems (brittle nails, cut hair tips, seborrhea, excessively dry skin, hair loss, early wrinkles).
  6. Weight jumps. There is a decrease in body weight due to lack of nutrients and decreased appetite, as well as obesity due to the general weakening of the body and metabolic disorders, cravings for sweets.
  7. Chronic fatigue syndrome, manifested by general fatigue, drowsiness, insomnia, weakness, decreased concentration and impaired memory.
  8. Persistent headaches caused by intoxication of the body.
  9. Bruxism (grinding of teeth during sleep).This symptom is more pronounced in children.
  10. Swelling of the limbs.
  11. Intermittent cough without other symptoms.
  12. Pain in muscles and joints of obscure etiology.
  13. Nervous disorders. Often, parasites cause depression, agitation, anxiety, irritability.

It is equally important to know about the obvious signs of helminths in the body:

  • Intestinal disorders (constipation, diarrhea, bloating, flatulence, spasms, irritable bowel syndrome, oily stools, discolouration of stools). The worms in the human body can reach significant sizes, so they physically block the movement of feces, interrupting the work of other organs (bile ducts, etc. ).
  • Itching in the perineum and anus.
  • Visual detection of helminths in the folds of the anus.
  • Presence of helminthic invasion in vomiting.