Worms in humans - symptoms and signs

A rather serious problem can be helminthic contamination of the human body. Invasion can manifest itself in everyone, regardless of a person's gender, age and social status.

Worms can settle in the small or large intestine, penetrating there in different ways.

They have a serious toxic effect on the organ system as a whole, producing the products of their vital activity.

All this negatively affects a person's resistance to all kinds of infections that hit the body.

worm parasite from the human body

Division of worms into types

More than 300 different helminth pathologies are known today. They are caused by nematodes and cestodes.

The former are roundworms, while the latter are flatworms. They parasitize various organs and their tissues.

That is why experts have carried out work on the classification of pests. Two groups of worms are known according to the possibility of parasitism in the human body:

  • intestinal;
  • extraintestinal.

Representatives of the intestinal group settle in the area of the small or large intestine, while the second extraintestinal ones live in the heart, liver, lungs and even muscles.

They travel through the body thanks to blood flow. As a rule, a person with a good immune system has many protective barriers that prevent worms from entering the body.

There is a special enzyme in the mouth that affects them negatively. If worms have passed this barrier, they enter the stomach, where the acidic environment kills their eggs.

It is also customary to subdivide worms according to the diseases they cause. For example, liver cysts cause aponeurosis, cattle tapeworm - teniarinhoz, worms - enterobiasis, roundworms - ascariasis, etc.

Thanks to the immunity of the intestine, certain antibodies are formed that resist helminths.

But these obstacles are not of particular importance in the case that someone has been seriously ill, i. e. the immune system is weakened.

Emergence of human worms

To date, a large number of helminths are presented, which differ in appearance and have special characteristics. Not all will be described in this article, but the main features are still worth identifying.

Helminths in adults can appear in the form of roundworms, which are usually referred to as pinworm, trichin.

The next variety is elongated individuals with pointed ends, but puffers have a flattened body.

They are called that for a reason, because they get stuck in the excretory tract area of the human body.

This is a special type of worm, which does not have its own respiratory and circulatory system. The skins feed on feces and mucous membranes, blood.

A special group should include ribbons, they have a flattened body shape, similar to a ribbon.

Their habitat is the intestines. An intermediate place of residence can be fish and animals for tapeworms.

They have special suction cups that allow them to adhere to the intestinal walls. There the worms settle and live their lives, feed and multiply.

Appearance of human worm eggs

For a long time, helminths can live in humans, the symptoms will not be noticeable.

Many people accidentally realize their pathology when they start doing stool tests or feel much worse.

In feces, it is not always possible to observe them with the naked eye, even if there is no microscope at hand.

The presence of worm eggs in humans, the symptoms of which are also not noticeable at first, cannot be seen without the use of special laboratory tools.

If you pass an analysis of feces, then the laboratory assistant will be able to determine if there are worms in the body and determine the type of these parasites.

The data will be based on the species and type of worm eggs that look different from each other.

Those. if the question arises: "how to determine if a person has worms? ", the answer to this will come down to the fact that for a start it is worth going to the hospital and taking the tests prescribed by the doctor.

Ways to infect the body

Worms are found in the human body in the form of many ways of infection. The most important is oral.

In this case, worms enter the human body through dirty hands, unwashed fruits and vegetables. Parasite eggs are inside a person because they live in the soil. This is why after gardening it is worth washing your hands thoroughly and only then sitting down to eat. Otherwise, only a few will be able to avoid the question of how to deal with the helminthic invasion.

It is also important not to eat meat and fish that have not undergone heat treatment and have not been approved by health control.

It is worth noting here that some species of helminth eggs remain alive even if the meat is cooked.

Another way of infecting the body with worms is contact. Those. infection occurs through feces.

Feces of infected people or animals may contain helminth eggs. They enter the human body and begin to multiply when they become sexually mature individuals.

Experts identify other ways of infection. One of them is related to the skin. Helminths from the aquatic environment penetrate the human body using the skin.

Invasion by worms is also possible through receiving the bite of an insect carrier. This method is widespread in tropical states.

But even in the south of our country or in exotic countries, this type of pest is very easy to intercept, which will lead to the fact that a person should be interested in how to treat helminths.

The ways of transmission of worms are really countless, there is also a way from an infected person to a healthy one.

But this does not mean at all that, being together with an infected person, you will get helminthiasis from him.

The pathology is not capable of being transmitted by airborne droplets, there is only a contact method for the transmission of worms. Here it is necessary to specify other nuances.

The peculiarity of the ways of infection with worms is that the eggs of parasites can enter the human body. They will lose the ability to grow and mature.

They will be able to grow if they are in the environment. If the necessary nutrients are found along with the larva, then the egg will begin to develop and grow.

Inactive helminth eggs will be excreted along with feces from the body, a person will begin to infect himself and harm others, if the principles of a hygienic regime are not followed.

The clinical picture of the presence of helminths in the human body

Many people are interested in how to understand that you have worms. The answer to this can be obtained if you pay attention to your well-being.

Symptoms of worms in an adult will vary depending on the types of parasites present in the body.

Many of them live in the digestive tract, and therefore the signs of the presence of worms in humans will be as follows:

  • sleepy state;
  • loss of prior performance;
  • weakness;
  • poisoning of the body with helminths.
  • increased appetite or, on the contrary, its sudden absence.
  • weight loss with normal diet.
  • constipation;
  • diarrhea;
  • scanty stools with blood.
  • feces with worms;
  • itching sensation in the anus.
  • headache with migraine attacks.
  • violation of healthy sleep.
  • allergic reactions to certain products, this is due to the fact that certain types of worms secrete special substances.

Signs of worms in adults may be accompanied by symptoms close to hepatitis.

The point is that the parasites affect the liver and the gallbladder area. There are types of tremors that can be confused with the manifestation of pancreatitis.

In the event of muscle pain, excessive sweating and a feverish condition, it is worth suspecting that there may be trichinella in the body.

Very rarely, but cases were still recorded when the signs of the presence of worms in a person were accompanied by a deterioration in the functioning of the brain, eyes and lungs.

After all, these pests can settle even in those places, which are not at all characteristic of them. Therefore, the signs of worms in people were accompanied by just such sensations of pain in the area of \u200b\u200btheir settlement.

The symptoms of the appearance of helminths in an adult vary, so there are different methods to understand that you have worms, but in reality they turn out to be ineffective.

Symptoms in adults appear only in cases of severe infection. A person may lose a lot of weight, their skin will become pale, and the itching in the anus will not stop.

As you can see, the symptoms in adults of helminthic invasion are very similar to other signs of pathologies.

Below will be considered cases of deviation of certain systems of the human body, if worms settle in certain organs.

Dysfunctions of the immune system

Worms cause a strong weakening of the body's immune forces, removing all useful elements and vitamins.

A person can begin to get seriously ill with a cold, although until recently he was not prone to such pathologies.

It is vulnerable to many infectious or viral diseases and therefore no minerals and vitamins can help restore immunity.

First of all, you need to find out if a person has worms, and then start treatment for parasites.

Respiratory disease

If the worms find themselves in the respiratory system, they deal a merciless blow to it. Asthma, pneumonia, chronic bronchitis and other pathologies of the pulmonary organs may begin to appear.

One of the ways to determine if a person has worms is to pay attention to the presence of a continuous runny nose.

Violation of the functions of the gastrointestinal tract

Helminths can settle in the intestinal area. Symptoms in an adult will manifest in this case in the form of problems with stool disorder or constipation.

Nausea and vomiting are not excluded. Also there is pain in the intestines, excessive bloating.

A person can eat more than normal and not improve for a long time or, on the contrary, suddenly refuse to eat.

There are cases when mild symptoms and treatment for pathologies of another kind do not bring the desired result.

But there are cases where the signs of helminth infection are pronounced. There can be severe diarrhea if helminths have settled in the body, when large worms block the intestinal passage, causing complete constipation.

CNS disorder

A huge number of helminths in the body requires the timely possible treatment for worms, because the central nervous system can be seriously affected.

The products secreted by parasites are capable of causing a heavy blow to the nervous system, send the body and cause malfunctions.

A person may suffer from memory loss, frequent headaches with migraine attacks, depression and fatigue.

It will not be easy for him to get in touch with other people and often communication can lead to disagreements.

Correct treatment of worms in adults is an important measure, because serious complications in the work of the central nervous system are possible.

They will be accompanied by a febrile state and an increase in body temperature up to 39 degrees.

The lack of useful elements due to parasite contamination can cause fatigue syndrome on a chronic level, start the process of anemia and make a person constantly irritated.

Pathologies of the skin

If the worms enter the human body, the skin becomes worse. In many cases acne and pimples will be observed.

No matter how much effort a person makes, it is simply impossible to cure these pathologies.

Helminths cause pathologies such as dermatitis, seborrhea and papillomas. They can be manifested by cracks in the heels, itching of the skin and plasticization of the nail plate.

A person begins to suffer from severe skin allergic reactions that cannot be treated, so it is important to start a course of treatment for worms in an adult. Otherwise, there is a chance that the skin will age quickly and become pale.

It is important to note that the brightness of the clinical picture will largely depend on the number of individuals in the human body, the place of localization and their immunity.

Some helminths, for example, roundworms, can cause a general disturbance of physiological well-being when the filariasis goes through an incubation period throughout the year.

The danger of worms to humans

We understood what helminths are, now it remains to understand what harm they can do to a person.

In this case, it is necessary to indicate that helminths secrete active substances that poison the human body.

Helminths feed on digested nutrients, blood and they also like different types of tissue. All this causes the loss of iron, proteins and other vital vitamins for the development of the body.

Worms can cause a malfunction in the digestive tract, disturb the stool, it turns out that at best only one person will feel much worse.

An adult has every chance to get rid of worms if you seek help from a doctor in time. Today, it is known that many means help to cleanse the body of parasites without violating its integrity.

Diagnostic Measures

During the week, the doctor will prescribe 3 tests for the patient that can detect eggs. This measure is necessary to achieve a reliable result.

It is also very important to find effective tablets for worms, for this a person must undergo a comprehensive medical examination, which includes:

  • general and biochemical blood tests.
  • scratching;
  • urine and stool analysis.

The specialist has a serious duty to interview the patient and examine him for the characteristic signs of worm infestation.

Symptoms may include itching in the anus, a bitter taste in the mouth, swollen lymph nodes, and joint and muscle pain.

The greater their number, the greater the risk of the presence of worms in the human body.

Medical treatment

After carrying out the above tests, the selection of specific anthelmintic agents is necessary. What is an anthelmintic drug and how it works, the attending physician will be able to tell.

If it is chosen incorrectly, then there is a chance that the organism will suffer even more, but it will not be possible to remove the parasites.

Each patient should receive medication according to a specific treatment regimen. The doctor will make it based on the patient's weight, the form of parasite infestation, the patient's age and the degree of the disease.

In order to avoid the events of autoinfection, it is recommended to take anthelmintic drugs again a few weeks after the course of treatment. This method allows you to remove the remaining larvae and eggs of parasites from the body.

Traditional medicine to get rid of worms

Pumpkin seeds are famous for their great effectiveness, helping to remove parasites from the body. It should be clarified that such a drug must be consumed with a thin film necessarily raw.

It is recommended to take it in the morning on an empty stomach. If necessary, you can mix them with honey or jam.

The next stage of treatment will be an enema. Only 2 hours after this measure, you can start eating. The course of treatment with pumpkin seeds should be repeated after another 14 days.