The Truth about Human Parasites

Almost everyone has parasites. It's simply a fact of life. Even Dr. Oz, the now famous Oprah Winfrey guest says..."ninety percent of humans will have a problem with parasites in their lifetime." Parasites are not just something that other people get – a malady reserved for citizens of developing countries. Everywhere we go, during just about everything we do, North Americans are vulnerable to parasitic infestation.

The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies parasites as among the six most dangerous diseases that infect humans. Parasites outrank cancer as the number one global killer, and account for many of the digestive woes from which people suffer.

Why Are Parasites So Prevalent ?

Your intestines provide the perfect breeding ground for parasites, who enjoy making their homes nestled within impacted waste as well as in the linings of colon walls. Living inside our intestines, these microorganisms gain the upper hand by virtue of their sheer numbers – both in kind and in population. They thrive because of the unique ways in which they have adapted their life cycles in order to ensure the perpetuation of their species within their unsuspecting hosts: us.

The three major groups of parasites include protozoans (single-celled organisms), nematodes (roundworms), and cestodes (tapeworms). There are numerous parasites common to North America ranging from microscopic protozoans and Cyclospora cayetanensis – sometimes called the yuppie disease because of outbreaks in the United States resulting from fecally-contaminated imported raspberries – to macroscopic multi-cellular worms and nematodes such as hookworm, pinworm, and whipworm.

Parasites Often Elude Diagnostic Testing

Parasites range from the stuff of late night horror shows – measuring in at several feet in length – to those that are invisible to the naked eye. And while they are fond of the colon, this is not the only place parasites can be found. Just about any part of your body is vulnerable to infestation: the lungs, liver, esophagus, brain, blood, muscles, joints, skin...and even your eyes!

There are more than a hundred different types of parasites who enjoy living out their lives inside of human beings. In the United States alone, one-third of nearly six thousand fecal specimens tested came back positive for nineteen species of intestinal parasites.4, at the Parasitology Center, Inc. (PCI) in Tempe, Arizona.

Since nearly everyone needs colon cleansing, in terms of efficiency, it may be financially prudent, as well as physically advantageous, to simply start with a colon cleanse in order to combat and prevent parasitic infestation. Learn More

Laboratory methods have progressed considerably in the last decade, and can provide various forms of parasitic testing supported by the CDC. Unfortunately, so far there is not one laboratory style of testing that covers all of the commonly known parasites. And while lab testing has come a long way, PCI is still the only laboratory in the United States specializing in parasitology testing.

It's important to remember that tests aren't conclusive unless they are positive, which could require the taking of many different specimens, at least three of each kind: blood, serum stool, and urine. Testing can become a time-consuming venture as much repetition can be required, and with so many different types of parasites, test results can be vague, inconclusive, and expensive.

Symptoms of a Parasitic Infestation

Sometimes you can be infected without having symptoms; however, there are often signs, including:

•Allergies to many different types of foods

•Anemia (low red blood count)

•Bloating/abdominal swelling

•Bloody stools

•Bouts of diarrhea and inconsistent bowel habits

•Flu-like symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, and fever

•Foul-smelling stools that get worse in the afternoon and evening

•Fever

•Gas and cramping

•Itching around the anus, especially at night.

•Nausea

•Vomiting

•Weight loss with a ravenous appetite

Four Steps to Purging Parasites

Accepting the fact that parasites are nearly unavoidable, as well as recognizing the kinds of environments parasites enjoy and how they are transmitted, is the key to ridding yourself of them, and preventing further infestations.

First, it's important to flush out your gastrointestinal (GI) system; a clean, hydrated, and toned colon goes a long way toward discouraging parasites to make their home in your intestines, as well as works to alleviate the unpleasant symptoms you are experiencing while under attack by a parasitic infestation.

Coping with parasites is best handled with a multi-pronged approach, which includes...

Step 1: Herbal Colon Cleansing

Everyone has parasites. They love life in the human colon because they thrive on human waste. So why not use common sense wisdom and clean up our colons regularly with colon cleanses and – by extension – take care of the rest of our bodies in the process?

One of the most effective ways to begin ridding yourself of parasites is with a detoxification of your entire body, starting with your colon. Colonic irrigation and herbal cleansing can help to remove parasites, mucus, and toxins that have built up in your colon.

By flushing out impacted waste, passing stool is easier, transit times are improved, the unlucky parasites will have less time to take their foothold, and there will be nothing left for them to feed on. This means your body will become an inhospitable host, reducing the likelihood of further parasitic infestation.

Numerous societies around the globe use natural alternative medicines derived mainly from plants for treatment of common ailments. Herbs have been used for thousands of years because of their proven track record for successfully purging parasites from the body. They help to increase the wave-like motion in the colon that propels waste along, while at the same time toning colon muscles.

Many herbs are more effective, and easier on the system, when used in conjunction with other herbs. A cleansing program that combines a variety of herbs in order to purge parasites from the body is preferable.

Puristat's colon cleanse is comprised of twenty-three herbal ingredients including cascara sagrada, buckthorn bark, ginger root, cayenne pepper, psyllium husk, fennel seed, and rhubarb root – all highly effective for expelling parasites and their eggs.

These herbs also have analgesic properties that can help relieve the inflammation, constipation, nausea, abdominal cramping, bloating, flatulence, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach ache that often accompany an infestation.

Removing impurities also goes a long way toward helping your body absorb nutrients, enhancing energy levels, and increasing regularity...all necessary aspects of getting back on track after a parasitic infestation.

After cleansing your colon, it's important to restore certain bacteria to prevent unhealthy bacteria from inhabiting the area. Probiotics are the good bacteria your system needs in order to restore its healthy flora.

It's recommended you begin a cleanse with considerably less than the suggested dosage if you're elderly. For example, one half to one tablet the first day, increasing daily until you regularly produce one to three bowel movements per day.

Step 2: Increase Your Fiber Intake

The key to managing parasitic infestation is prevention; the sooner you make dietary changes that will help to keep you cleansed and clear of waste, the less opportunity there will be for parasites to settle into the impacted waste within your colon.

Fiber helps keep your bowels regulated by increasing your transit time, which in turn keeps your colon clear of the waste build-up associated parasitic infestation.

Increase your fiber intake by eating more fiber-rich foods, and make up for low-fiber days with a high-quality fiber supplement. A dietary supplement containing psyllium is one of several excellent ways to increase fiber, and it tends to produce less gas than some high-fiber foods.

Learn about both traditional and more exotic foods that are filled with non-soluble and soluble fiber, as well as how to incorporate them into your diet. Print out our fiber chart so you'll know exactly how many grams of fiber per serving that various foods have to offer.

Although in some countries people reportedly consume over seventy grams of fiber each day, the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for fiber in the United States is twenty-five to thirty grams. An increase in fiber creates softer, bulkier stool, which moves more easily through your digestive system, flushing out parasites, mucus, and toxins on a daily basis.

The result is a cleaned and toned colon, which makes for a less hospitable place for parasites to move in, and take over. Increased fiber intake is also linked to weight loss and many other health benefits.

Step 3: Reverse Vitamin Deficiency

Parasites and vitamin deficiency go together like peanut butter and jelly. Not only can having parasites lead to a deficiency, if you're already vitamin-deficient, you will be vulnerable to a host of health problems including parasitic infestation.

Parasites feed off human blood, extracting vital nutrients. And not only do they burrow in our intestinal walls, some parasites cause diarrhea, making it difficult for our bodies to absorb nutrients.

It is a well-documented fact that parasites cause specific vitamin deficiencies. Diphyllobothrium latum for example – commonly referred to as fish or broad tapeworm – can deplete your body of half its vitamin B12, an essential resource for the proper functioning of your central nervous system, muscle coordination, and memory.

Unfortunately, many of us are already vitamin deficient due to our Standard American Diet of processed, fake, and junk foods. Add to this the fact that modern food refining destroys and devitalizes much of the goodness in the foods we eat, and you've set yourself up for a potentially vicious cycle of infestation, deficiency, and re-infestation.

At some point in their lives, everyone on the planet will require extra vitamins and minerals to compensate for deficiencies; if you've got parasites, the time to incorporate a multi-vitamin into your daily regimen is now!

Advanced vitamin supplementation is the foundation of good health, and can work to help prevent parasitic infestations. With a strong multi-vitamin in your corner, your body will be able to recuperate from a parasitic attack, and build up its immune system to prevent future infestations.

Step 4: Know Parasite Sources

In order to avoid infestation, it is important to understand how parasites operate, and then take the necessary steps to avoid becoming an unwitting host to various parasites.

How Are Parasites Transmitted? Let Me Count the Ways...

It's a parasite's job to infest, and they have designed a variety of clever ways to invade their hosts – i.e. you. Some air-borne viruses, bacteria, and fungi can infect human beings if accidentally inhaled. In North America, Histoplasmosis, Valley fever, and Hanta virus are examples of parasitic diseases associated with bat dung (used in some fertilizers), dust, and rodent feces.

Parasitic worms are readily transmitted from pets and other animals such as beef and swine tapeworms. Cat litter boxes may pose a threat of toxoplasmosis; the Toxoplasma gondii parasite is found in cat feces. Dogs carry Echinococcus, an intestinal tapeworm the eggs of which spread over a dog's fur via its anus. Unhealthy human contact with infected dogs, such as kissing, transports the eggs into the human intestine from where they can make their way to a host's brain and liver.

Bloodsucking insects can transmit parasites through bites as they endeavor to feed on human blood. Insect-borne pathogens are not normally a danger to their natural hosts – a rodent for example – but can become extremely harmful in unnatural hosts such as human beings.

Protozoa – such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia – are transmitted through drinking water that has been contaminated with fecal material from infected persons. They can be found in both running streams and the tap water in many large North American cities served by surface water treatment plants. Schistosomes such as the deadly Trematoda fluke, however, can only be transmitted through skin contact with contaminated water.

One of the most common ways of contracting a parasitic infection is through food intake. Unless properly washed, vegetables grown on farms fertilized with infected human waste can transmit the eggs of various parasites. When swallowed with contaminated food, parasites can be infective. This can easily occur in household settings, or in restaurants where health inspections at even the most expensive world-class restaurants reveal that employees harbor fecal matter under their nails.

Some parasites – the roundworm nematode, for example – spend their immature egg stage in warm, moist soil, just waiting for a new host to invade. Walking bare-footed or sitting on fecally-contaminated soil can be an invitation to the eggs of hookworms or strongyloides, who penetrate the exposed skin and migrate through the human body to the intestinal tract.

Summary

•Expect to become infected by parasites.

 •Regular colon cleansings are a must since most water sources are located near human habitation, and are therefore likely infested with parasites.

•Supplement your diet with fiber to improve transit times, and keep your colon cleansed of parasitic activity.

•Supplement your diet with a high-grade multi-vitamin to ensure adequate vitamin, mineral, and nutrient intake, and to combat the resulting deficiency from parasitic infestation.

•If you are prone to infestations, avoid known sources such as contact with rodent feces, cat litter boxes, and inappropriate contact with dogs.

•Use caution when drinking and/or swimming in unfamiliar water sources.

•Wear protective clothing when exposed to bloodsucking insects.

•Wash all fruits and vegetables in clean water before eating to prevent roundworm and whipworm infection. Add a few ounces of over-the-counter hydrogen peroxide and/or mild soap to increase the parasite-killing activity of water.

•Wear shoes or slippers to prevent hookworm infection.

•Do not use water from septic tanks or other potentially contaminated sources for watering vegetables.

•Contain all waste matter in an outdoor toilet or latrine rather than going as nature intended outdoors.

•Children are particularly susceptible to parasites, and often harbor the largest number of worms. Teach them proper hygiene, such as hand washing (including using a nail brush) after going to the toilet, playing outside, or before preparing or eating food.
References:

Jo Jordan and Jesse Hanley, MD