Introduction
Parasites are organisms that live in or on another organism, called the host. The word parasite comes from the Greek term “parasitos,” which means “eating at the table of another.” A parasite lives by feeding off of its host and can cause health problems, including digestive issues.
Parasites are more common than you might think; it is estimated that one out of three people on the planet have a parasitic infection! But don’t panic, because there are several natural ways to get rid of these critters if they do show up in your body.
First things first: what exactly is a parasite? Parasites are small animals that live in or on another animal (called the host). While some parasites live outside their hosts, others—like intestinal parasites—live inside their hosts’ bodies. Parasites come in all shapes and sizes: some are microscopic while others can be seen with the naked eye. Some examples of parasites include worms (such as tapeworms), insects (such as lice) and protozoans (including amebas, giardia and cryptosporidiosis).
If you’re wondering how to find out if you have been infected with intestinal parasites, here’s a quick quiz to help you get started.
Worms in poop
Not all worms can be seen in stool. Some worms, such as tapeworms, can usually be seen in the feces. However, you may need to use a microscope if the infection is light. In some cases, your doctor will give you a special liquid that causes worm eggs to show up better in a sample of stool. This is called fecal flotation.
The chance that you will see worms increases with the number of worms present and improves when parts of the worm break off and appear in the stool on their own. Most people with tapeworm infections get drugs to kill off the tapeworms so they do not have to deal with seeing them in their stools.
Worms may look like thin or swollen pieces of white cotton thread. Some worm infections cause no symptoms at all and are only found when a doctor sees something during an exam, such as an intestinal parasite leaving eggs while examining feces under a microscope or finding evidence of parasitic infection from blood tests or imaging tests like X-ray or endoscopy (in which a long tube containing instruments is inserted into the digestive tract).
Fatigue and weakness
Parasites are your enemy: they absorb the nutrients meant for your body, causing fatigue and weakness. After a while, you may experience other symptoms associated with lack of nutrition: inability to concentrate at work or school, sleep disturbances, and even depression. When you’re lacking in energy throughout the day, it’s hard to feel happy! Your personal relationships may suffer as well. You likely won’t be interested in going out with friends or spending time with family if all you want to do is sleep. The good news is that this is one of the first signs that can be addressed through parasite cleansing.
Weight loss
If you’re trying to lose weight, but your efforts seem pointless because you’re not actually seeing any results, then it might be because you have a parasitic infection. When a parasite enters the body and makes its home in the intestinal tract, one of the main effects is that it causes weight loss. If this is happening to you, then don’t worry—this article will explain why it happens and what can be done about it.
Parasites have an incredible ability to consume food and nutrients from within the body. In fact, some of them are capable of eating up to 10 times their own body weight each day! This means that if they enter our bodies while we’re sleeping at night or during a nap during the day, they’ll start eating whatever food is available until it’s gone (which could take hours since parasites don’t need much sleep). And since these parasites aren’t paying rent like humans do with money every month (or week depending on how much income we make), they won’t stop just because there isn’t any more food left in our intestines—they’ll continue feeding off other parts of our bodies like muscle tissue and fat stores until those sources run dry too!
Abdominal pain, bloating, and gas
When it comes to your gut, abdominal pain and bloating are most commonly caused by gas. This is true for both parasitic infections as well as other health problems.
Bloating isn’t a symptom of parasitic infections either—in fact, they can actually prevent you from suffering from bloating. If the parasite is living in the small intestine and feeding off of your food, that means less food remains available for you to digest and experience bloating.
Gas isn’t a common symptom of intestinal parasites either unless they’re causing diarrhea or constipation.
Nausea and vomiting
Both nausea and vomiting are common symptoms of parasitic infection. It’s important to differentiate between the two, as they’re caused by different parts of a parasite’s lifecycle. In many cases, it’s possible to pinpoint the type of parasite you have based on these two symptoms alone.
Nausea can be caused by a variety of factors, but when it comes to intestinal parasites, there are three main causes:
- The trophozoite stage in the lifecycle of certain parasites is usually found attached to the walls of the intestine. While it’s not harmful in its own right, this attachment can cause irritation in your digestive tract, which manifests itself as nausea. If your nausea coincides with stomach cramps or diarrhea that lasts more than 24 hours without improvement or relief from over-the-counter medications like Pepto-Bismol or Imodium A-D (loperamide), then you may be suffering from an intestinal infection like giardiasis or cryptosporidiosis.
- Another cause for nausea is when parasites are actively living inside your intestine and excreting waste into your system—this waste often contains toxins that irritate your gut lining and cause problems like indigestion or abdominal pain for even a noninfected person.”
Allergies and food sensitivities
An allergic reaction may occur when a host’s immune system overreacts in response to a parasite. For example, if a parasite lays eggs in the host’s digestive tract, the host may experience an allergic reaction to the eggs. As another example, if a parasite feeds on the food that normally passes through the host’s digestive tract, it may trigger an allergic reaction because it is taking more nutrients from that food than normal and leaving less for the host.
Although allergies can cause unpleasant symptoms like itching or sneezing, most are not dangerous to your health and can be easily treated with antihistamines or other medicines available at your local pharmacy. In extreme cases where an allergy is severe enough to cause death (such as anaphylactic shock), these medicines should not be used without seeking medical advice first
Anemia
Anemia is a common symptom of parasitic infections. Anemia actually has many causes and can be caused by hookworms, roundworms, tapeworms, and other parasites. People with anemia have a lower than normal number of red blood cells. It’s also possible to have low levels of hemoglobin which is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to the rest of your body.
Diarrhea, constipation, or both
If you have been suffering from diarrhea or constipation, or even both, it can be a sign of Intestinal parasites in the body.
Diarrhea happens when the growth of bacteria is more than the absorptive capacity of the body. It can also occur if there is an irritation in the walls of the intestines. The irritation could be because of consumption food that has a lot of spices, or because your system is reacting to something you ate. If you are experiencing signs and symptoms such as intestinal bloating, abdominal cramping, and abdominal pain along with diarrhea for over two weeks, then it might be possible that there are parasites in your body.
Parasites like Giardia can cause constipation by causing an obstruction in your intestine which can lead to severe cramps and fever.
Bloody stool or vomit (with severe cases)
If you have bloody stool or vomit:
It is important to seek medical treatment if you notice blood in your stools or vomit. This is a sign of a severe infection and you may need immediate medical care. Call your doctor immediately and he or she may arrange to have you admitted to the hospital for treatment, where they can perform blood tests, fecal tests and x-rays.
Blood in your stool can indicate parasitic infection, but it can also be a sign of more serious conditions like hemorrhoids, colon cancer, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and ulcerative colitis. If the blood has a black tarry appearance, this could indicate that the bleeding is coming higher up in the gastrointestinal tract (such as from an ulcer), whereas bright red blood typically indicates that it comes from lower down in the small intestine or colon (like from hemorrhoids).
Remember that parasites can be picked up from contaminated food, water and soil so make sure to always wash fruits/vegetables before eating them and never drink tap water abroad unless it has been boiled first!
There are many different symptoms of intestinal parasite infections.
Intestinal parasites are not something to be taken lightly. When detected, they need to be addressed sooner rather than later.
That said, if you believe you have an intestinal parasite infection, the first thing you should do is see your doctor and get a stool analysis test done in order to confirm or deny your suspicions. Symptoms can vary from one person to another, so it’s worth looking at the symptoms listed below, as well as doing your own additional research. You should also look into how to prevent parasites from getting into your body in the future and what literature is available on treating them through natural means as opposed to medication.
Takeaway
Parasites are organisms that live off another organism, in this case, your body. They can be worms or single-celled organisms called protozoa. Parasites living in the human body can cause symptoms such as diarrhea, cramping, bloating, gas, and abdominal pain. In some cases, parasites can live in the body for years without causing any symptoms whatsoever—but it doesn’t mean they’re not there.
In summary: If you have diarrhea and cramps on a regular basis or have returned from traveling abroad recently and are experiencing those symptoms (or any of the ones listed above), it’s worth checking with your doctor to see if intestinal parasites may be lurking inside you!