Worms as vivid representatives of parasitism on Earth are a big problem not only for those infected individually, but also for whole countries, where they sometimes become a real disaster. Usually when people talk about worms, they mostly imagine small white worms living in the human intestine. But in fact, the types of worms in humans are extremely diverse, both in size and in terms of the length of their existence. Some types of helminths (this is what worms are called in the medical literature) can only be viewed in a powerful optical device, and there are species that reach 18-20 meters in length and parasitize indoors. of a person for up to twenty years.
Infection of people (especially children) with worms is a common occurrence. Helminth eggs, which the female reproduces in large quantities, are extremely resistant and adapted to the internal conditions of residence in the human body and to the external environment into which they enter with the feces.
The shell of eggs reliably protects them from external mechanical influences and climatic factors, in particular heat and cold. There they wait for a favorable opportunity to enter the organism of their "host", where they immediately attach themselves, develop, transform into ready-to-use sexually mature individuals, and again infect "the host" with a. gigantic number of eggs, which begin a new stage of reproduction. Next, we'll take a closer look at what worms are in humans.
The classification of helminths can be based on various characteristics - for example, the place of their parasitism in the human body. On this basis, they are divided into intestinal and extra-intestinal.
Intestinal worms are parasites that have adapted to live in the gastrointestinal tract. They are roundworms and tapeworms.
Extra-intestinal worms are those that have adapted to parasitize other human organs - for example, in the eyes, liver, lungs, and even in the brain.
It is possible to classify helminth varieties by the way they enter the body of the main host. On this basis, they are subdivided into contagious, biohelmintics and soil-transmitted helminthics.
Contagious worms are those that an infected person transmits to a healthy person during communication. Children can have toys as transfer objects. This group of helminths includes pinworms and dwarf tapeworm.
Biohelminthic worms are those which are transmitted to humans through communication with animals, as well as through the consumption of poorly processed meat. The animals in this case are called "intermediate" hosts of helminths. This species includes tapeworms from cattle and pork.
Types of soil-transmitted helminthic worms include those that have spent part of their life in the soil (soil), after which their name is prefixed "geo". Infection with this type of worm can occur through unwashed fruits or vegetables. This group includes helminths such as trichina and roundworm.
Varieties of worms can be classified according to their biological characteristics. In this case, they are divided into flat dishes, which in turn consist of trematodes, cestodes and nematodes.
Let's start with the round parasites - they are nematodes. They have an elongated round body. Their life cycle occurs with a change of ownership. This infection is common in children. These include the following types of worms.
Tapeworms are classified into fluke and cestode.
Trematodes are helminths with a leaf-shaped body with two suckers (one is used to attach to the host's body, the other is used for food). The size of the body can range from a few millimeters to a meter and a half. The development of such types of worms occurs with the use of an intermediary "host" by them. In the main "host", they live in the digestive tract. They do not need their own digestive system, because they parasitize completely to the detriment of the food resources of their "host". With a strong infection with this helminth, people start to lose weight, even if they eat a lot. The following parasites are called trematodes.
Cestodes are worms with a segmental body structure. The segments develop successively from the head section of the helminth and during its life they move further and further towards the tail. As they move, a large number of eggs are fertilized and grow in them. Having reached the end of the tail, they fall out of the uterine body, together with human feces they enter the external environment, where they begin the next phase of life. In the main host, they live in the intestines, clinging to special suckers up to 20 m.
Let us consider the types of helminths in more detail.
A wide variety of helminth species in humans cause serious dysfunction.
Symptoms of the disease depend on the type of helminth that strikes a person. They can be very diverse, as these parasites are able to live in almost any part of the body and human organs. The varieties of worms cause the most common symptoms of infection:
The types of helminthiasis (groups of infectious diseases) depend on the type of helminth and its location in the human body. In this case, helminthiasis can manifest itself secretly or severely, sometimes up to death. In general, there are as many helminths as there are all types of helminths, and so far no universal cure has been found for all parasites. Therefore, for effective treatment, you need to know exactly what kind of parasites a person is infected with.
In medicine, many drugs have been developed and tested to treat helminths. Many of them are toxic to the patient, so self-medication is not recommended. If you suspect an infection, you should see a specialist.
It should be noted that often the primary treatment destroys only the adults of the worms, but their eggs and larvae remain viable in the body, and after some time after the treatment, the worms may again manifest themselves withsymptoms. Therefore, repeated use of these drugs is possible.
Here are some of the proven folk remedies for worms with consistently positive results. On a daily basis, everyone should be able to fight against this parasite with affordable and cheap means. These products include pumpkin and flax seeds (raw and in decoction form), pumpkin oil, onion decoction, wormwood, tansy and ginger decoctions, garlic pudding.
But it is better not to be infected with helminths at all. For this, well-known preventive measures should be used - washing hands, processing vegetables and fruits, performing heat treatment of pork, beef and fish, being careful when dealing with animalsof company. Observance of these simple rules will significantly reduce the risk of infection with helminths.
