"Parasitic worms .. are the most toxic agents in the human body
and one of the primary underlying causes of disease."
Dr Hazel Parcells, Parasite and alternative medicine expert
Most natural health practitioners agree that parasitic infections are grossly underestimated as the cause of disease and suffering in humans. Although not a very nice subject to dwell upon, the majority of parasitic infections are caused by either single-celled organisms or a variety of worms from the microscopic to a metre long.
This article addresses the topic of parasitic worms in humans which broadly can be either flatworms (platyhelminths) or roundworms (nematodes). The flatworms include flukes (trematodes) and tapeworms (cestodes) and the roundworms include pinworms, threadworms and hookworms.
Parasitic worms: The scale of the problem
Some estimates claim that up to 75% of the world's population has some form of parasitic intestinal worm infection and parasitic infections are certainly one of the primary causes of illness and death in the developing world.
The World Bank estimates that roundworm has infected 1.5 billion people, hookworm just over 1 billion and whipworm 1.3 billion people globally.
Common symptoms of a parasite infection include:
• Sporadic constipation, diarrhoea, gas and bloating
• Nausea or vomiting
• Stomach pain or tenderness
• Joint aches and pains
• Chronic fatigue or weakness
• Environmental and chemical sensitivities
• Rashes
• Low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia)
• Flu-like symptoms
• Long standing obesity
• Depression
• Changes in appetite
• Food cravings
• Immune dysfunction
• Weight loss
• Passing worms, their eggs or segments in the stool.
In extreme cases, parasitic worm infestations can cause total blockage of the intestinal tract causing severe constipation.
The opposite is also true with parasitic worm infections speeding 'transit time' and causing diarrhoea and also reducing the body’s opportunity to absorb the nutrients in food leading to malnutrition and weight loss.
Various nutrient deficiencies can also be caused by parasitic worm infections as the parasites absorb vital vitamins and nutrients that would normally be absorbed by the host body.
The actions of the worms can also interfere with normal digestive processes. For example, worms release protease inhibitors as a defence against the body’s protein digesting enzymes and these may impair the breakdown of other proteins intended for use by the body.
In addition, direct damage to the intestinal mucosa can cause impaired nutrient uptake, and the complex chemical imbalances caused by the body’s reaction to the worms can also affect nutrient absorption. For example, roundworm (Ascaris) infections have been linked to temporarily induced lactose intolerance and to the malabsorption of vitamin A, protein and fat.
Parasitic worms also release chemicals which suppress the host's immune system in order to continue existing within the host. This, in combination with the long-term immune response triggered by worm infection may drain the body’s ability to fight other diseases, making affected individuals more prone to viral, bacterial and fungal infections. The worms also excrete toxic waste products that continuously poison the host's body taxing detoxification processes.
Worms and their larvae can also perforate organs and tissues as they migrate through the body causing inflammation, acute symptoms and interfering with their functions. Finally, parasitic clumps are often mistaken for cancerous tumours with all that implies.
Life cycles of parasitic worms
Parasites often have complex life-cycles involving different stages in one or more hosts. The definitive host is the one in which the parasite achieves sexual maturity and reproduces, but there may be other intermediate hosts in which the parasite completes a necessary part of its life cycle.
There can also be incidental or terminal hosts ie: animals or humans that can become infected and in which the parasite can survive but is unable to reproduce.
For example, in threadworm infection eggs are produced in the human intestine making man the definitive host (with no intermediate host). Whereas dog tapeworm eggs are eaten by sheep from contaminated soil, hatch into migrating larvae within the sheep and are passed in their faeces to dogs where the threadworms can grow and reproduce making dogs the definitive host.
Allopathic medicine and parasitic infections
Doctors still tend to think of parasitic infections as being primarily tropical diseases and it is true that parasitic infections are a huge problem in tropical regions. However, with air travel to exotic locations now commonplace for business and/or pleasure, the diagnosis of parasitic infections in often overlooked by doctors in the developed world.
Failing to recognize the true cause, doctors may attribute gastrointestinal symptoms to the woolly 'irritable bowel syndrome' and there may ensue a fruitless attempt to suppress individual symptoms. This may involve medicating the symptoms with antibiotics and/or steroids which at best may not be helpful and at worst extremely counterproductive. Meanwhile the true cause goes unidentified and untreated.
More worrying still is the growing penchant in allopathic medicine for actively infecting people with parasites in order to quell unwanted immune responses such as allergies and autoimmune diseases.
This is based upon the 'hygiene hypothesis' which states that because our immune systems are not being given enough to do defending us from the constant assault of microbes and parasites that they historically used to, our immune systems start to behave in aberrant ways attacking the body.
Actively infecting someone with parasitic worms is thought to both give the immune system a focus for its activities and also to harness the substances that parasitic worms produce that quell the immune response of their host so that they can survive within the hostile environment of the body.
(To read entire article and view PICs) :
http://www.thenaturalrecoveryplan.com/articles/Parasitic-Worms.html
) nor start on the 2 grams of fish oil every day my doc recommended, or quit smoking. I'm due for follow-up bloodwork in July, so we'll see. Hell, I'll even start our 6yo Jack Russel Terrier on it (although I ain't sure even if it works it's possible she'll get any more energetic! LOL)
I actually did spend a bunch of time trying to debunk the DE stuff, but actually couldn't find a single "scientific" study that did so. All I was able to come up with was positive personal experiences and a bunch of sourpusses trying to say it's BS, but without any solid proof. Yeah, I did order 6 lbs. Yeah, Sweetie, Bunny and Sassy (the JRT) and I will start on it when it arrives. And, lastly, yeah, I will report on bloodwork results in 90 days. I'm hoping and keeping fingers crossed. Everyone else, please keep this thread going with ya'lls experiences. 
