stomach and gut - Parasites

J

John Evans

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just been reading through the parasites thread- can you tell me where you would go to get tested and what it involves (do you just go to the doctor) - i read someone gets tested once a year- or should one just take preventative medicine every so often - the thread was a bit confusing
 

leekiv

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HEY John

just been reading through the parasites thread- can you tell me where you would go to get tested and what it involves (do you just go to the doctor) - i read someone gets tested once a year- or should one just take preventative medicine every so often - the thread was a bit confusing

I have not read those post's but I can tell you that yes some get treated every year,( some more often depending on job,), even in Canada. I know of 2 people in the DR who are MONTHLY taking med's for prevention of.............. I am not really sure if they are just paranoid or what. Anyway , my friends ,( one being a pet vet and the other her assistant), live here,(Canada), and get "wormer" monthly as they are never positive as to if they brushed their mouth with a gloved hand etc. They buy it right over the counter at pharmacy. As for testing I believe that most is done from a stool sample.
 

drloca

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just been reading through the parasites thread- can you tell me where you would go to get tested and what it involves (do you just go to the doctor) - i read someone gets tested once a year- or should one just take preventative medicine every so often - the thread was a bit confusing

As far as taking the meds prophylactically, I myself would be hesitant.

I am not sure what the long-term effects are for the particular antibiotics used to treat the different parasites, but putting medication into your system on a regular basis "just-in-case" would be a scenario I would discuss with your health care provider to weigh up the risk-benefit ratio.

As far as testing goes, I am not sure it would be warranted on an annual basis if one is asymptomatic.
 

leekiv

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Hey again John

Briefly read through the post's on "parasites" and there seem to be many ,( this from people who still post here), in the DR . Some of the regular posters said that they have had problems and where treated, and some yes do take pill's once or twice a year as a precaution. Also not to walk barefoot and wash all produce in bottled water,( some did this but still brush their teeth with tap water), whilst others use tap water for all, and have had no problems. lol Think I know why you where confused. ;)
 

DrChrisHE

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The standard treatment for amoeba (one type of common parasite--there are many) is AMOEBRIZ (brand name for Mebendazol with Quinfamida). I will say that the antiparasitics used in here are quite toxic (they are category D or X for pregnancy=VERY BAD to have during pregnancy). There are less toxic alternatives where the diagnosis doesn't have to be nailed precisely. One of these is GSE or Grapefruit Seed Extract. A company that sells this through GNC and other health food/supplement stores is Nutrabiotic. Another brand is Agrisept (more expensive, but higher concentration & made in Canada) Citrus Seed Extract. For several years there was debate about how GSE/Citrus Seed worked and some bad press (ultimately linked to big pharma), but my experience has been that these natural alternatives work BETTER than the pharmaceuticals available in the DR (whether they are defective here, I'm not even going to speculate.) The GSE/citrus seed treatment which will give broad kill of ONLY the nasty parasites and bacteria (leaving the acid loving beneficial bacteria intact) is 15-20 drops 2-3 times a day for 7-10 days (all depending on just how bad you feel or how high of a concentration your parasite larvae/cyst or egg count is.) Another useful natural treatment is one made with walnut hulls. Several companies such as Nature's Sunshine Products produce high quality antiparasitics based in this.

Some of our (NPH's) long-term volunteers and employees worm themselves every 4 months. Others come to me when they have symptoms and we send out fresh fecal samples.

One thing people who are doing this monthly or preventively should note is that worms and parasites are not without their DEFENDERS. There is actually a theory being bounced around seriously about how asthma and allergies in the developed world are due to a LACK of worms and parasites in our systems. Personally, I don't subscribe to this theory but it IS getting play. Now I'll go look up my sources!

Good luck!
 

sollie

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Parasites suck!

I know, I've had them twice.

What I have learned is that they are probably more common than we would like to acknowledge. After gardening you inadvertently bite a nail, your dog surprises you with a sloppy kiss or you eat that beef that was hanging outside for hours in order to not offend your guests. Or, I should say, more common than first world medicos would like to acknowledge. Stool samples do not always detect the culprits. If you are passing loose or watery stool for more than a month, consider the possibility.

Antibiotics do little. I have had success with a monthly regime of a natural product called Paranil. Black walnut hulls among other things. For the adventurous and inquisitive, you would be amazed at what might pass from your body. A gross topic to be sure, but not a laughing matter.

Now if I could only find a cure for the human variety.

Sollie
 

DrChrisHE

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Jul 23, 2006
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Hygiene Hypothesis & parasites as beneficial

Okay...here are some sources for the Hygiene Hypothesis:
A quick read:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...orm05.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/09/05/ixhome.html
Summary of another:
From New York Times By Andy Newman
For most of the Western history, the average child walked around with a bellyful of parasitic worms: pinworms, tapeworms, hookworms. Then modern civilization came along,put shoes on the children's feet, installed sewers and stopped using human waste as fertilizer, and the worms almost disappeared.

But there may be a downside to all this hygiene. Children in industrialized countries, which are relatively worm free, have a greater tendency than those in other countries to grow into adults with autoimmune disorders, in which the body makes antibodies that can cause disease: rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease.

Maybe this is a coincidence, but maybe not. Recently, researchers at the University of Iowa gave a drink containing the eggs of helminths, a parasitic worm, to six people suffering from acute, chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Five went into remission, and the sixth improved substantially.

None got sick from the worms; all relapsed after the worms left their system. "Every one of those patients is begging to be re-treated," said the lead researcher, Dr. Joel Weinstock.

Research on Potential Helminthic Therapy of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Joel Weinstock M.D., David Elliott, M.D., Robert Summers, M.D., Khurram Qadir, M.D.

Experiments conducted by Dr. David Elliott, et al at the University of Iowa using mice with experimental inflammatory bowel disease showed that helminthic worms protected the animals from this disease.

Digestive disease specialists at the University of Iowa are now organizing additional clinical trials to gain additional data and knowledge about this potential treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Helminths are not being used as a routine clinical treatment for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The encouraging results of the initial research must be tested and substantiated by further research. Therefore, we are only using this agent under a strictly controlled research protocol.

Developed countries have a larger by 50 times the amount of diabetes in children and gut related diseases in adults, yet the most undeveloped ones such as China and Africa have the smallest per capita of the same diseases. Can it be related to "hygiene" hypothesis? It makes sense! Another study took 50 adults that were not responding to traditional diabetes medications to control it, after induction of pinworms, more than 1/2 had normal blood sugar levels....... lets not toss out the meds and start drinking pinworms, but follow up research is certainly warranted.

So...... do we treat or not, obviously if the animal's health is being compromised, there is no doubt we should, but I think we all need to think real hard on treating an animal that shows something on a fecal float or smear when there are no other symptoms present. We know so little about host or symbiotic relationships in animals and even less in bearded dragons.. if its not broken, lets think hard about it and talk to our vets about NOT fixing it. This is something that you can take to your vet and discuss, most I have found are very willing to listen if you have documentation with you by respected researchers and it is an ongoing education for them.
More:
How to cure your asthma or hayfever using hookworm - a practical guide || kuro5hin.org

Quoted from : Endotext.com - Diabetes, Pathogenesis of Type 1A Diabetes
With increasing public health, a "hygiene" hypothesis has been advanced, particularly directed at asthma and type 1 diabetes(60). It is hypothesized that as the environment becomes "cleaner" the normal development of the immune system is disrupted (e.g. regulatory T cell development is subnormal) resulting in increases of both presumed Th2 (asthma) and Th1 (Type 1 diabetes) mediated diseases. For instance, one review discusses decreasing pinworm infection as a potential factor.

Quoted from : A missing link in the hygiene hypothesis? [Diabetologia. 2002] - PubMed Result
Helminths inhibit the development of atopic disease via induction of regulatory T cells and secretion of Il-10, and pinworms inhibit diabetes development in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse. The most successful human helminth of the western world is the pinworm. Their decline in response to improved living conditions might explain a number of features of the epidemiology of childhood atopy and diabetes.
 
J

John Evans

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errrrm right ! now im even more confused.....it will be adopt a tapeworm week next week.....perhaps I'll just go for the grapefruit option and order a set of kitchen stools
 

sollie

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Me thinks ...

... respondents were attempting to be helpful. Quit your whining and say thank you.

Sollie
 
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J

John Evans

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thank you- I must stop attempting humour on this site it always backfires
 

sollie

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As I said, " ... not a laughing matter". Scatological topics rarely are.

Be well,
Sollie
 

DrChrisHE

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My intent was NOT to confuse you but present the fact that there is NOT consensus on this topic. As with all health care, YOU are the ultimate decider. The only way you can make the best, informed decision is to be exposed to the spectrum of info out there.

I for one, don't plan to adopt a tape worm. However, I also don't prophylactically worm my family or myself. A couple of times one of the five of us has become symptomatic and we've gone the GSE route successful. I give the NPH patients a choice. Some prefer the once or twice dosing of the pharmaceutical but most prefer the GSE in spite of the bitter taste (it IS like chewing on grapefruit seeds.)
 
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DRob

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Such a fun bunch

I travel to DR 3-4 times a year. Sometimes to Sosua, others Santiago and Cibao in general. Done Punta Cana, La Romana, and Santo Domingo as well.

Number of times I contracted tapeworm - 0
Amoebas - 0
attracted sand flies or bed bugs - 0
got anything other than Montezuma's Revenge for eating a piece of mystery meat - 0

It's a fun island to visit and live on, but we should be mindful of making one or two isolated cases into an epidemic, lest the forum comes down with a case of it's own - of hypochondria.
 

Chris

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My intent was NOT to confuse you but present the fact that there is NOT consensus on this topic. As with all health care, YOU are the ultimate decider. The only way you can make the best, informed decision is to be exposed to the spectrum of info out there.

Dominican Republic Chris H.E
should be taken with a grain of salt. And you fellows are funny .. tapeworms are not!

Back to topic - Parasites. Personally we've not had problems in the DR. My son picked up a whole slew of parasites on a visit. This was easily identified and dealt with back in the US.

I wash hands .. put on flip flops and don't go barefoot .. eat carefully or treat food carefully .. understand the risks if swimming in a river and get tests done every 6 months. It is not expensive and the local health care provider will tell you what you have after some stool testing (if anything).

Then you can decide whether you want to treat holistically or conventionally. Holistic treatments include grape fruit seed extract, black walnut and other therapies focused on strengthening your own immune system to expel the parasites or to live a symbiotic life with them ... you being the stronger.

Conventional treatment is that which is given by your doctor ... a few tablets, 3 days or so (don't test me on the number of days as I do the holistic thing) and all parasites are dead. There may be a few very beneficial organisms dead as well, but hopefully you have a strong constitution and this does not matter.

In the DR I personally think every child should be tested 6 monthly and adults annually, unless something is wrong and you suspect parasites. It is not a fine thing to live with parasites or worms usually. Usually if one is exceptionally healthy the system works it out itself. If not, or if you are average, you need a little help. If you are a newby and not accustomed to local conditions, get those tests and deal with the parasites for the first few years - if any.
 
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sollie

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Clarification

My response was not necessarily DR related, merely parasite related. I've been known to venture into some out of the way places and willingly take the risks of eating/drinking local food, not to mention throwing caution to the wind from time to time. For the record, I have never gotten anything in the DR that cipro didn't remedy.

Sollie
 

Chris

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You may be healthy and on top form! ;) People can live with parasites you know .. if they are stronger. No-one will ever know :cheeky: Problems come when there are problems .. and the parasites 'overcome' the normally healthy constitution. It is possible to live healthy in a symbiotic relationship with parasites (Aaargh .. I don't want to do this if not necessary!)

(I also don't talk from DR knowledge only. I grew up and lived in 'darkest' Africa and when last I checked, most all of the family was still alive! Conditions are similar in terms of health precautions to take) ;)
 

Keith R

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I travel to DR 3-4 times a year. Sometimes to Sosua, others Santiago and Cibao in general. Done Punta Cana, La Romana, and Santo Domingo as well.

Number of times I contracted tapeworm - 0
Amoebas - 0
attracted sand flies or bed bugs - 0
got anything other than Montezuma's Revenge for eating a piece of mystery meat - 0

It's a fun island to visit and live on, but we should be mindful of making one or two isolated cases into an epidemic, lest the forum comes down with a case of it's own - of hypochondria.

I think no one's saying that it's an epidemic. But it's by no means "one or two isolated cases." I lived in SD four years, brushed my teeth with tap water, swam in rivers and walked barefoot on beaches, yet never got parasites. Neither did my wife. But our kids did. And many of our relatives had bouts with "amoebas," so speaking from personal experience, it's far from rare.
 

Lambada

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thank you- I must stop attempting humour on this site it always backfires

'Backfiring' could be a symptom of...............:laugh::laugh:

Anyone wanting the worming mixture which a number of locals take should ask at Farmacia for Fel-6 Suspension Oral (liquid, not unpleasant to taste, instructions included, it is mebendazole). I don't worm regularly although I did around the time I had toxoplasmosis & again when I had giardiasis.

Liquid lactobacillus acidophilus is available at farmacias for those who feel treatment of parasites may have removed all their good bugs as well as the less good ones.