The enemy, as they say, "you need to know by sight". You need to understand who we're dealing with. Illiteracy in this matter will not give any discount. We will provide ourselves with information that can be used in practice for the benefit of our health, that does not leave the slightest chance that some parasites will spoil our precious life.
Parasites - who are they?
Parasites(from the Greek parasites - parasite, parasite) - reduce the plant and animal organisms that live outside or inside another organism (host) and feed on it. Parasites live their parallel life within our body, feeding on our energy, our cells and our food, including health products,
that we consume.
There are parasites that spend their entire lives in the host's body or only part of it; they receive food and shelter with it, without causing any visible damage to their host's body.
Some parasites irritate the host and affect its functions; others destroy host tissues and release specific toxins that cause health problems and the development of various diseases in the host.In the human body, several species can parasitize: fungi, bacteria, viruses, protozoa and worms.
Parasitesduring their life undergo a complex development cycle: there are those that need to change several hosts, within which the parasite undergoes an intermediate development (the so-called larval stage of developmenthelminth worms). In the body of the last host, helminths become sexually mature and as dangerous as possible.
The parasites are classified as follows:
- fungi
- virus
- simpler parasites
- helminths (worms, worms)
- crustacean parasites
- arachnid parasites
- insects (mainly blood-sucking)
1. Fungi.
They aremicroorganismsthat infect the human body, being able to establish themselves both on the surface of the skin and on the mucous membrane of internal organs. Diseases caused by pathogenic fungi are calledmycoses. There aremycoses of the skin and nails(dermatomycosis), as well as mycoses of internal organs. Animals are also susceptible to the results of fungal activity - they can intoxicate the body, due to poisoning by fungal toxins that affect plant nutrition (mycotoxicosis). There are different types of mycoses, some are just people or animals, others are infected by animals. Disease-causing fungi cause fungal diseases that are considered infectious diseases.
There are several hundredtypes of fungi, two of which are especially dangerous for humans. The first type of fungus -cryptococcus(Cryptococcus neoformans) - causes meningitis (inflammation of the membranes of the brain and spinal cord). Typically, this cryptococcus spreads in bird droppings and is found in fruits, vegetables, animal milk and soil. The second type of fungus -candida(candida albicans) - causes diaper rash, mucous membrane candidiasis, balanitis, thrush, mycoses, onyx (nail damage), sore lips, paronychia, toe athlete (mycosis of the toes), fungal diseases of Organs genitals.Fungi love sweets, they feed mainly on sugar and starch, but, like any living organism, they need amino acids, vitamins and minerals.
Fungiis a separate civilization, it is its own parallel world. They can withstand temperatures from -150 to + 150 degrees, they cannot be frozen or destroyed. In scientific circles, there is an opinion that mushrooms are the main terrestrial civilization, and they use everything around them for their own purposes (and we people, too). The mushrooms are white, odorless, extravagant discharge from the nose, mouth, wound, urethra, etc. Mushroomsis a white layer on the tongue, baldness and dandruff, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis. If there are white deposits on the tonsils, it is a sore throat caused by fungi. Mushrooms don't hurt, they itch. Mushroom is everything that peels, exfoliates, falls, cracks, rises above the skin, gets stained, covers the scalp. There is no acute phase of fungal diseases, there is only a chronic phase.
2. Viruses.
Virusesare non-cellular living beings, they are microparticles made up of nucleic acids - carriers of genetic information (RNA and / or DNA), externally covered by a protein membrane. Viruses are capable of infecting any living organism.Virus, translated from Latin (virus) is poison. Viruses cannot be attributed to animals or plants. They are very small, so they can only be studied with an electron microscope. Viruses can live and develop only in the cells of other organisms. Viruses cannot live outside the cells of living organisms, and many of them in the external environment behave like chemicals, appearing in the form of crystals. By settling in the cells of animals and plants, viruses cause many dangerous diseases. Human viral diseases include: herpes, measles, flu, HIV, hepatitis, polio, smallpox.
3. The simplest parasites.
Parasitic protozoa-amoeba, lamblia, toxoplasma, cryptosporidium, as well as malaria, leishmania, trypanosomes. Among parasitic protozoa, the agents causing the most dangerous diseases of animals and humans are known, especially in the tropics (Malaria, Dysentery). Plasmodium malaria infects human red blood cells, leading, in the phase of mass reproduction, to attacks of severe fever, which can lead to death. Flagellated trypanosomes and leishmanias are mainly tropical species that, when fed on animal tissue, cause ulcers, malaise and, in some cases, death. Living in the intestine, the Entamoeba histolytica rhizome is the causative agent of chronic amoebic dysentery, capable of penetrating other tissues and killing the host. The flagellated intestinal parasite Giardia lamblia causes severe diarrhea (giardiasis). This species is found in rivers and lakes polluted by human excrement in tropical and subtropical regions. Some parasites, such as the pneumonia-causing species Pneumocystis carinii, may be closer to fungi than other protozoa.
4. Helminths (worms, worms)
More than 70 types of worms have been registered, of which the following types of helminths are most common:
- roundworms (nematodes)- roundworms, moths, tricurids, trichinella, toxocara;
- tapeworms (cestodes)- pork and bovine tapeworms, dwarf tapeworm, echinococcus, alveococcus, broad tapeworm;
- flatworms (worms)- opistorrchiasis (feline worm), liver worm, Chinese worm, pulmonary worm.
Some of these parasitic helminths are ubiquitous, while others are more common in certain areas. For example:
- pinworms and roundwormsare found worldwide;
- whipworm- found everywhere, especially in hot and humid regions of tropical, subtropical and temperate climates.
- Trichinella- in Belarus, Ukraine.
- pig tapeworm- recorded everywhere, most often found in Belarus and Ukraine.
- bull tapeworm- are found everywhere. Mainly in Transcaucasia and Central Asia.
- dwarf tapeworm- occurs everywhere, especially in areas with hot, dry climates.
- broad tapeworm- usually chooses habitats in areas with a large number of freshwater bodies. Constantly present in the Baltic, Kazakhstan.
- opistorquiasis(plaice of the cat) - the most intense outbreaks are recorded in Kazakhstan.
- liver worm- omnipresent. Outbreaks are recorded in Transcaucasia, Central Asia and the Baltic.
- echinococcosis, alveococcosis- in Moldova, southern Ukraine, the Caucasus.
There are over a hundred and a half varieties of these parasites, but the most common are "only" about 35 species. Depending on the location of the parasites in the human body, these diseases are classified into tissues and lumens.
Tissue parasites.
If the parasites and their larvae are in the tissues of the human body, in the subcutaneous tissue, move freely through the circulatory or lymphatic system, this disease is called tissue disease (schistosomiasis, echinococcosis).
Translucent parasites.
If the parasites are located in the intestines or other internal cavities of the human body, this disease is called luminal (tapeworms, roundworms).
Parasites are also distinguished by their specific location (habitat) in a person, such as their host.
External parasites.
This parasitic species on the skin of the human body directly outside, they do not live inside the host, but use it only during feeding (mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, lice, horseflies, wasps, leeches). . .
Internal parasites (helminths, worms, bacteria, fungi).
This type of parasite has the following classification:
- Flatworms (trematodes), in their structure, free-living organisms or bilaterally symmetrical parasites. The length of the trematodes varies from 0. 1 mm to several meters, the body structure is generally flat, oval or more or less elongated; in parasitic forms, it is equipped with fixing organs to the "host" in the form of suction cups, proboscis, hooks, etc. The representatives of the flatworms are whirlwinds or riparian worms; opistorrquiasis (feline worm), planaria, hepatic worm, clonorchus, fasciola, schistosome, pulmonary worm.
- Roundworms (nematodes), free-living parasites of this class live in bodies of salt and fresh water, soil. In most cases, their sizes are small, even microscopic, but among parasitic individuals there are also quite large ones, reaching more than seven meters in length (cetacean helminths). The most common representatives of roundworms of human parasites are roundworms, moths, tricurids, filarias, strongyloid, hookworms, trichinella, toxocara, rishta.
- Tapeworms (cestodes, tapeworms),This category of helminths is distinguished by a characteristic long ribbon-shaped body (from several fractions of a millimeter to tens of meters). Cestodes - worms with an elongated, ribbon-like body, composed of head, neck and individual segments, are distinguished by their enormous fertility (some species are capable of producing up to 600 million eggs per year) - pork and beef tapeworms, tapewormdwarf - the detachment of cyclophilids; echinococcus, alveococcus, broad tapeworm, sheep's brain.
- Bacteriosis. Bacteriosis is an infectious disease caused by several types of bacteria and parasites.
Bacteriosis is a widespread diagnosis worldwide. Some bacteriosis are caused by bacteria of one type, others are caused by bacteria of various types. Representatives of this class of parasites are - leptospira, staphylococci, streptococci, shigella. - Mycoses- diseases caused by parasitic fungi. More than 350 species of pathogenic fungi have been identified, parasitizing humans, domestic and wild animals, birds, insects, amphibians, fish and plants. The most famous pathogens of mycoses are candida, cryptococcus, penicillium.
- Protozoa or parasitic protozoaare single-celled organisms that have heterotrophic nutrition, that is, they are not capable of producing organic substances necessary for their vital activity from inorganic substances. The consequence of this is the need for organic substances produced by other organisms (amoeba, lamblia, coccidia, Trichomonas).
Sad facts about worms and other parasites:
- Chronic, incl. oncological diseasesin 80% of cases are caused by the influence of parasites (worms, fungi, protozoa).
- The causative agent of opistorchiasisbelongs to the first group of carcinogens (which cause cancer) - according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
- The number one biological enemy of humans is Trichomonas.By forming colonies on the walls of blood vessels, Trichomonas lead to the development of atherosclerosis with all the consequences.
- 1989 - Trichomonas property is discovered to transform ordinary cells into malignant cells.
- Parasitic diseases worldwideaffect more than 4. 5 billion people, 9 out of 10 cases are worms, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).One in three people in Europe is affected by parasites (including worms)!
The frequency of the incidence of parasitosis is comparable to the incidence of influenza.
So there are several ways that parasites can enter the human body:
- Food - lack of personal hygiene(through contaminated food, water, dirty hands);
- Home-contact - creating external conditions for the active development of parasites(through household items, infected family members, pets);
- Transmissible - without precautions(via blood-sucking insects);
- Percutaneous, or active - non-compliance with safety measures(where the parasite's larva penetrates the skin or mucous membranes of the human body during contact with contaminated soil, when swimming in open water).