Parasites
June 13, 2023
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Over the centuries, parasites have adapted to live inside the human body in such a way that we are unable to recognize and fight them on our own. However, the presence of these unwanted guests leads to disorders in the body, and some can even threaten our lives.
Over the past 10 years, more than 4.5 billion people worldwide have become infected with various parasites, with one in three people in Europe and 85% to 95% of the population in the US. Scientists say that at the beginning of the 21st century, as much as 95% of the world’s population carries parasites. In addition, 99.9% of people who have pets (even rodents or birds) carry parasites. Parasites cause some 14 million deaths a year.
More than 300 different species of parasites can reside in the human body. Contrary to the common belief that parasites live only in the large intestine, they can be found in any part of the body. They reside in the lungs, muscles, joints, liver, esophagus, blood, eyes and even the brain. Parasites enter the human body through various routes:
Parasites are widely present, and we cannot avoid contact with them in our food and environment. Our body is exposed to their numerous attacks, and our immunity is our only means of defense. Unfortunately, due to unfavorable ecological conditions, the use of chemical drugs, especially antibiotics, exhaustion, stress, inadequate nutrition, and the consumption of preservatives, our immunity decreases. This, in turn, leads to increased infection with parasites, resulting in their activation and intensive reproduction. For example, a female fluke can lay 20,000 to 25,000 eggs, while a female pinworm, after leaving the stool intestine, disintegrates, releasing 20,000 eggs. A roundworm can grow to a length of 45 centimeters and lay 245,000 eggs a day. The longest parasite, the fish tapeworm, can reach a length of 15 meters and lay up to 100,000 eggs at a time. One individual of the unarmed tapeworm can lay up to 4 million 900 thousand eggs a day and as many as 440 million eggs in a year. Unfortunately, parasites can stay in our bodies for years or even decades without making themselves known. Only when there are a lot of them do we start to feel their presence. What’s more, parasite activity opens the door to other infections. In such a burdened body, organs and systems can no longer function properly.
Many natural medicine practitioners recommend that their patients undergo regular parasite cleansing. Usually at least once a year, often in spring (the best time for cleansing), specialists recommend such therapies even without testing for parasites. In a standard microbiological examination of feces, the chance of detecting parasites in this material is only 5-10%.
Symptoms associated with parasites can be varied and include the following areas:
Metabolites secreted by parasites can act as major allergens, causing allergic reactions in the body. The changes can occur in the form of cellular allergy, which initially manifests as inflammation and then progresses to a degenerative state.
The presence of pinworms and lamblia is usually associated with humans from an early age. In a study conducted by the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in Praga II, Warsaw, lamblias were found in 80% of cases in infants in nurseries and kindergartens. Lamblias are initially harmless or have little effect on the body, but can become pathogenic under the influence of invasion by new parasites or bacterial infections. Infection with a third or even fourth parasite species (e.g., roundworm larvae, trichinella eggs) through vegetables in salads, as often occurs in nurseries and kindergartens, creates conditions conducive to inflammation of the respiratory tract. Cyclic symptoms of respiratory tract inflammation and attacks of shortness of breath can result from cyclic oviposition and cysting of parasites. Lambliae cyst every 26 days, pinworms oviposit every 28 days, and roundworms oviposit every 2.5 months (no information on the oviposition cycle of trichomonads was found in the literature). So far unknown reasons for the spontaneous resolution of asthma and incomprehensible recurrences may be due to the different survival time of the worms (roundworms live 2 years, trichinella 5 years) and their re-invasion.
Parasite metabolites are a major pathogenic factor contributing to the development of asthma by blocking the body’s defense mechanisms, paving the way for viruses and bacteria, causing spastic airways and increasing vascular permeability. Clinical symptoms associated with asthma often occur in children with parasite infestation and may result from irritation of the vagus system. Animal studies support these observations, where irritation of the vagus nerve causes bronchospasm, and its blockade leads to cessation of asthma attacks, but symptoms of general body intoxication remain.
Parasite metabolites affect various systems in the body, and back pain can result from cellular allergic changes. The potent antigen, which is parasite metabolites circulating in the blood, causes the formation of antibodies on the surface of mast cells of connective tissue, especially in the areas most susceptible to this process. In the case of our spine, this is the most stressed part of the skeletal system. The interaction of the antigen with the antibody leads to the destruction of mast cells and the release of the hitherto non-toxic protein histidine, which is converted into histamine, which is toxic to the body, as well as histamine-like toxic substances. Inflammation of neighboring tissues is produced, which over time turns into a degenerative process.
Parasite diagnosis is often based on fecal examination, but this has a limited efficiency of 12-20%, since the presence of parasites can only be detected if eggs are present in the material examined. If the parasite has not laid eggs at the time of examination, it may remain undetected. The serological method, which determines the presence of antibodies against helminths in the blood, is more precise, but works only in the late stages of infection and has an efficiency of only 55-60%. Therefore, the Vega test is irreplaceable because it achieves as much as 95% diagnostic certainty, making it more effective.
Effective control of parasitic infections is based on four principles: proper diet, parasite control, cleansing the body of toxins, and boosting immune function.
Rife’s method of anti-parasite therapy is very effective, achieving a 90% success rate. Often after the first anti-parasitic therapy, an initial worsening of symptoms is observed. In the case of asthma, this can lead to an accelerated onset of dyspnea or the appearance of an asthma attack in new areas. These typical Herxheimer reactions are due to the release of more toxins during parasite elimination and are indicative of the effectiveness of the therapy used.
Diet, herbs, supplements and deacidification of the body play an important role in fighting parasites, but they are not enough to completely cleanse the body. Their function is to starve parasites or create an unfavorable environment for them, which can result in their leaving the body or death. However, it should be remembered that not all methods are effective against all types of parasites, for example, protozoans present in the bloodstream, lymphatic system, pancreas or gallbladder are not affected by these methods. The diet should be free of wheat, sugar, sweets and contain as little sweet fruit as possible. A moist environment promotes the growth of parasites such as worms, fungi and bacteria. It is recommended to carry out this type of treatment at least twice a year, in spring and autumn, for optimal cleansing of the body.
You should also avoid eating foods that are infected with parasites, such as undercooked meat, raw nuts or vegetables such as lettuce, parsley and celery, which should be heat-treated. Instead, choose foods with a bitter, pungent or sour taste, which repel parasites.
Foods and herbs with anti-parasitic properties:
A set of anti-parasitic herbs recommended by Prof. Ozarowski:
Pour 2 tablespoons of herbs over 2 cups of boiling water – drink the resulting infusion in 3 portions, in the morning, during the day and in the evening, preferably about 20 minutes before meals for the first week.
When comparing parasites with their free-living relatives, there are numerous signs of adaptation to a parasitic lifestyle, such as clinging organs, adequate body coverings and a complex reproductive system that sometimes accounts for up to 90% of the entire organism. Simplifications in both morphology (lack of legs, absence of some sensory organs) and anatomy (e.g. absence of a digestive tract) are also characteristic. Evolution leads to more adapted forms rather than more complex ones.
Not only parasites evolve, but parasites evolve together with their hosts. We speak of joint evolution, called coevolution of parasite-host systems. Until the 1980s, it was believed that such evolution always leads to a gradual “civilization” of mutual contacts, i.e. parasites gradually become less harmful and hosts increasingly tolerate their presence. However, there are situations in which parasites do not need the long-term survival of the host. This is the case when the transition to the next stage of the parasite’s development cycle does not require contact between the host and other hosts, but only the transfer of the parasite’s developmental forms via so-called vectors to other hosts. An example of such a vector is the forkhead mosquito, which transmits the malaria spirochete by spreading it with blood from one human to another. If mosquitoes pick up large numbers of parasites and transmit them to subsequent hosts, the parasite’s goal is achieved. The host has served its purpose, and then it can leave. Every year, about 1.5 million people die from malaria. (For example, the forkhead mosquito is actually the definitive host of the malaria spore, since it is in its body that the embryo undergoes sexual development.)
But why does the host body tolerate the parasite’s harmful presence at all?
The mammalian body has a powerful immune system that has evolved to defend itself against intruders. So why can’t it handle such a “simple” organism as a protozoan? To answer these questions, it is useful to recall how the immune system works.
The mammalian immune system is an extremely complex system, involving several organs, many types of cells and countless chemical molecules. Non-specific and specific immunity are the primary mechanisms of this system. Non-specific immunity includes various types of barriers that impede the entry of parasites, bacteria and other pathogens into the body, such as the skin, secretions (such as tears and sebum coating the skin), cilia and mucus covering the digestive and respiratory tracts, and the acid reaction of gastric juices. Non-specific immunity also includes proteins in blood serum and phagocytic cells that are present in all tissues and engulf pathogens. These cells, called macrophages, are also part of the specific immune system, which reacts to specific antigens – characteristic molecules found on the surface of or secreted by the parasite.
At the center of the specific immune system are helper T cells, one group of white blood cells and lymphocytes. These cells, through the release of cytokines, recognize the enemy and direct the fight with antibodies and cytotoxic cells that destroy infected cells. Antibodies are protein molecules produced by B lymphocytes that are spatially matched to specific antigens.
The body, through genetic processes, can produce virtually any type of antibody that is needed. For example, antibodies can neutralize harmful substances secreted by the parasite, such as bacteria. Antibodies, by binding to antigens on the parasite’s surface, cause cells involved in the direct fight against the parasite, such as eosinophils (also white blood cells), which secrete substances that destroy the parasite, to concentrate there. This leads to an inflammatory reaction, which is accompanied by local swelling and redness.
It might seem that with such advanced and powerful defense mechanisms, parasites should be defeated. However, this is not always the case. Parasites develop “technical innovations” that hosts are often unable to cope with. This is akin to an arms race.
One of the easiest ways used by parasites is to escape to places in the host’s body where the immune system does not work intensively, such as the brain, skeletal muscle fibers or eyes.
Another way to avoid an immune response, especially a local one, is through parasite migration. For example, the larva of the human roundworm enters the human intestine with food, but instead of staying there and maturing, it undergoes an elaborate migration through the circulatory system to the lungs, and then returns through the respiratory tract to the throat to be swallowed again and settle in the intestine. During this migration, the larva causes a lot of damage in the body. Such wanderings lead to a weakening of the body’s defense capabilities. The immune response begins to develop in the intestine, but before it reaches full strength, the parasite is no longer there. Then the defense activities move into the blood, but the parasite leaves the blood. Now the lymphoid tissue of the lungs begins to fight back, but it turns out that there is nothing left to fight against. Similar migrations take place in the larvae of many other nematodes, such as nematodes.
Who knows if the opposite strategy of escaping the immune system, i.e. getting deep into the defense lines in a way that prevents recognition, is not even more effective. This is what parasitic protozoa do when they penetrate immune system cells. These single-celled organisms form special vacuoles (vesicles surrounded by a membrane) in the affected host cells. They can reside in macrophages, for example, and it is common for parasites to escape inside red blood cells, where they do not come into direct contact with immune cells.
More sophisticated methods of fighting the immune system lead to confusing or inactivating it. Some parasites, such as the mumps that cause coma, induce so-called polyclonal stimulation of lymphocytes. They stimulate a variety of lymphocytes that fight against various antigens and produce antibodies directed against them. Such action gradually depletes the body’s defense capabilities.
Some parasites trick the host’s immune system by altering their surface proteins. Many worms cope in yet another way: after attaching antibodies to the parasite’s surface antigens, but before the next stages of the immune response, the worm sheds the surface antigens along with the antibodies. These travel in the blood and settle in various places in the body, causing inflammation where the parasite is absent! Parasites can also directly inhibit the host’s immune response, causing immunosuppression.
Peculiarly insidious can be considered parasites that, while residing in the host, change their surface antigens in such a way that the immune system response, although hard-won, proves ineffective. Nematodes, for example, proceed in this way, where successive larval stages have different “disguises.” Some protozoa residing in the blood regularly change the glycoprotein (sugar-protein) molecules covering the cell surface. When the host organism begins to recognize a certain type of molecule, the protozoa change their surface glycoproteins to new ones that are not yet recognized by the host. They gain a temporary advantage and multiply rapidly. A genetic mechanism underlies these changes.
If you are interested in conducting an effective treatment against parasites, we invite you to contact us.
