Parasites are probably the most diverse of all biological forms and yet remain hostile to humans. Parasites are all around us: in the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink. Every single living organism can be infected by these super-beasts.
Even bacteria have parasites! (phages).
According to the World Health Organization there are at least 3.5 billion people (50% of the people on the planet are infected). 25% of all deaths result from parasite infections (Malaria, remember, is still the number one killer infection in the world, and is classified as a parasitic disease).
International travel has made matters worse by enabling rapid and uncontrolled spread to areas with low natural immunity. Parasites are everywhere! Where the immune system is strong, the infected host generally remains well. But where immunity is compromised, as with environmental illness, these infestations can be source of serious symptoms.
Parasites do NOT kill the host but severe allergic reactions may be set up, where the cause is not obvious. Competition for nutrients from parasites will inevitably lead to micro- and macro-nutrient deficiency,
which in turn leads to chronic ill health, lowered immunity and the possibility of succumbing to some other disease. Parasites therefore become part of the clinical ecology picture. Remember, ecology means our relationship with the outside environment. This is not a sick body problem but a healthy body being damaged by extraneous factors.
Parasites, even when present in significant numbers, may not be the sole cause of the patient’s problems but merely a contributed overload factor.
Symptoms: Tiredness, listless, loss of appetite, irritability, insomnia, vague aches and pains (not confined to bowel), swings in bowel habit, flatulence, inappropriate hunger, skin rashes, itching anus, itching ears.
Finally, if you can’t think of any other cause for ill health, think parasites.
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