According to WHO, more than 10 million people worldwide are infected with helminths every year.Helminthic infestation is extremely dangerous due to large-scale damage to the body - mechanical and toxic.Helminths destroy the tissues of the intestines and other body organs (even the heart and brain), poison people with phenol, formaldehyde poisons and other dangerous wastes, absorb vital macro and microelements;Prevention of helminthiasis is important for adults and children.
One of the main difficulties in fighting worms is to remove them from the body.Most drugs affect only adults and cause a serious chemical "shock" to health (therefore they cannot be taken frequently).The cystic forms remaining in the body, the larvae, continue to multiply and destroy the body, reducing its ability to resist infections, chronic diseases and provoking the emergence of dangerous pathologies.
Therefore, the primary task is comprehensive prevention of worms, aimed at preventing their entry into the body and creating its own protective barrier - normal, healthy microflora in the intestines, properly functioning immune system, etc.For this you need:
- take care of hygiene, especially if you are in a risk group - this includes children attending kindergarten and school, employees of sewage treatment plants, plumbers, summer residents and gardeners, agricultural and other workers;
- Be attentive to the quality of food and water;
- In addition, take protective measures, because compliance with the first two rules is not enough - take preventive courses of anthelmintics, use natural remedies, special treatment and rehabilitation complexes.
The difficulty of prevention of helminthiasis is due to the fact that they enter the body not only through raw contaminated water and unwashed hands, but also through the air through which eggs and cysts are transferred, seemingly safe food and other sources.Two to four weeks after infection, patients develop acute helminthiasis, and then it becomes chronic, with different but always dangerous symptoms.Nevertheless, prevention should begin with hygiene and lifestyle control.
Hygienic prevention of helminthiasis
Infection with helminths very often occurs through the skin and contact with contaminated objects - structures in public places, toilets, even banknotes.Therefore, in everyday life it is necessary:
- wash your hands well after using the toilet, before coming outside, before eating, and by observing personal hygiene, cut your nails in time (long manicure is an additional risk factor);
- regularly carry out wet antiseptic cleaning at home;
- control the cleanliness of used underwear and dishes;
- If you have pets, do regular check-ups, schedule deworming and therapy, avoid pets coming into contact with stray dogs and cats, and walk only in designated areas;
- Fight mechanical vectors of helminths - flies, cockroaches, etc.
You should be especially careful when visiting public places.You can get infected by swimming in open water, swimming in a pool, coming into contact with birds and animals, playing on the beach, in the sand or on the grass in a park.Young children are especially vulnerable to worms, who explore the world by "touch" and try to put everything they see into their mouths.It is impossible for parents to monitor the quality of sand and protect playgrounds and parks from street animals and rodents.Therefore, the issue of children's anthelmintic prophylaxis is very acute.The most unpleasant thing is that you can get parasites simply from the air, walking and not touching the ground.
Food control
As responsible as hygiene, you should treat the quality of products and their processing.Vegetables, fruits and herbs are most often washed in cold water, but this is not enough to kill parasites.It is necessary to pour boiling water on them.Meat, fish and seafood require long-term heat treatment at high temperatures and prior exposure to the freezer for several days.
A few more recommendations:
- Exclude from your diet rare steaks and raw fish, even sea fish - worm larvae can stay there for a very long time;
- Do not eat dry sausages - due to their production technology, helminths are not completely destroyed in them;
- Do not have picnics near livestock and poultry farms, open water bodies and other dangerous places.
However, even boiling meat for a long time and using only vegetables from your own garden does not give a 100% guarantee that you are protected from helminth infestation.It is necessary to take additional measures to remove the worms from the body and prevent re-infection.
Drugs and natural remedies for anthelmintic prophylaxis
There are many medicines that doctors prescribe to fight helminthiasis.As a rule, they are taken once or twice because of their high toxicity, but they can destroy the metabolism of the worms and remove them from the body.Therefore, people concerned about their health take such medicines even without a diagnosis - as a preventive measure.
Most often, broad-spectrum drugs are used for prevention.Medicines differ according to the type of active substance, help with different forms of helminthiasis and should not be taken without prior diagnosis and a doctor's prescription.This can cause even more damage due to "medical shock".
Another option for preventive therapy is natural remedies.Among the most famous:
- pumpkin seeds (necessarily with a green shell);
- garlic, onion and ginger;
- Tincture of walnut kernels;
- Herbal infusions with tansy, wormwood, celandine and other natural bitters.
The effectiveness of natural remedies is not very high, the dose required for prevention is difficult to calculate, and few people conscientiously eat raw garlic and pumpkin seeds regularly.For complete prevention, "folk recipes" are clearly not enough.
Special complexes are needed to provide comprehensive protection against helminthic infestation, to create a constantly "active" barrier and to allow the body to fight parasites independently.Such products include several drugs that eliminate existing worms, restore the balance of nutrients disturbed by them and gently restore the normal state of the internal environment.
Medicines of natural origin contain natural bitter substances, vital microelements that absorb helminths (zinc, iodine, selenium, magnesium, copper, etc.) and do not cause side effects.Complex:
- Eliminates and protects 150 types of worms in all forms - cysts, eggs, larvae, adults;
- improves intestinal enzyme activity, eliminates dysbiosis, restores the functions of the gastrointestinal tract and liver;
- compensates for the lack of micro and macroelements, helps to remove heavy metals from the body;
- Improves the external and internal condition, helps fight against a wide range of chronic diseases.
To prevent helminth infection, it is recommended to take a special complex and medication for three months (with a week break between each).The anti-parasite and health program is carried out once or twice a year, and if you are in a risk group, three to four times a year.