WHAT A PARASITE IS?
Beware! Appearances are deceptive. They are minute. But, they are really dangerous. They are on the prowl everywhere. You can’t escape them. They are the parasites!
The first thing to know about the intestinal parasites is that they are parasites in the truest sense of the term. So, who do you call a parasite? In popular parlance a parasite is a person who simply lives on others wealth. But the most important derogatory characteristic ascribed to a parasite is that it does not think good of its benefactor.
On the other hand, literature abounds of such parasites that leave no stone unturned to throw out the master and usurp his place. And literature is a generally an apt portrayal of the society. A parasite is basically a sycophant. In ancient Greece, a parasite was a person who was a professional guest in any dinner party.
In medical term, a parasite is that life form which thrives within a different organism and does more harm than good to the host. At times, these parasites can even pose threats to the parent creature as these parasites are veritable sources of diseases. In the case of twins who are conjoined, the parasite is the incomplete twin as it takes support from the other fetus which is just about normal.
PARASITE SPECIES
Parasites can be microscopic or large enough for the naked eye to identify them. Biologically, there are 3200 parasite species divided into the four main categories, viz., Cestoda, Nematoda, Protozoa, and Trematoda. All of them feast on our digestive highway.
The Cestodes are tapeworms, the nematodes are the roundworms, and the protozoans are unicellular organisms. At times, these parasites strike our bodies simultaneously. The HIV infected people are generally hosts to the protozoans, including isospora, microsporidia, and cryptosporidium.
WHERE THEY DWELL
These common organisms can be found everywhere in our environment, in the air we breath, in the water we drink, or in the food we eat. Believe it or not, our body also plays host to as many as 100 parasites of different shapes, sizes and colors.
INTESTINAL PARASITE
An intestinal parasite grows, gets forced sustenance, and thrives within the human intestines or the entire strip known as the gastro-intestinal tract. They are microscopic in size although larger than the viruses or the bacteria. They spread from the environment to the human beings. Unhygienic locales, constant proximity with animals or food that is not cooked in the required temperature are ideal grooming places for the parasites.
The two main species of intestinal parasites are protozoa and helminths. While the protozoa are unicellular and multiply within our beings, the helminths are multicellular worms and are basically harmless. Helminths do not multiply within our bodies and move out.
PARASITE CAMOUFLAGE
These parasites may be quite nondescript in appearances. But they have developed fascinating tactics to take for a ride even our body’s highly foolproof immunity network. Just like the villains of thriller movies, some of these microscopic parasites put on the facades of tissues in such a way that the sentinels in our body mistake them to be a part and parcel of the body. After that, these parasites multiply themselves slowly but silently. And, at the opportune time when the immune system grows weak owing to some other illnesses these parasites make their forays!
WHAT PARASITES CAN DO
The parasites can run riot inside your body. First and foremost, we are robbed of those ingredients that are absolutely necessary to help our digestion process. It is because of these parasites that many of us become anemic and feel lethargic after we have our meals. These parasites squeeze away our amino acids, vitamins, nutrients, and minerals.
They can make holes in your intestines, lungs, liver as well as the circulatory system. They can even wear away or clog or even damage the main organs. The parasites do this by piecing together to form tumors. More often then not, such lumps are mistaken to be cancerous. These lumps flow with the blood to our lungs, heart and even the brain.
The parasites even poison us via the toxic (metabolic) waste products which they release within our bodies. Once this takes effect, we suffer from the dysfunction called verminous intoxification. The people affected by this condition find problems in doing away with the metabolic wastes. Then, these toxins are again absorbed by the intestines.
KNOW THEIR ROUTES TO ELIMINATE THEM
Did you ever imagine that when you have constipation or problems in clearing the bowels you are creating the perfect grooming place for these parasites? The accumulated faeces on the colon wall give the parasites the nourishment.
Now, how do they enter our bodies in the first place? Even the water we drink and the food we consume are ideal conduit routes for these beings. And, they can enter through our skins as well as our noses. Thus, they do not necessarily need any agent for the transmission into our bodies. Their entry routes can be through sexual acts or even the mosquito or the housefly.
Hence the need for hygienic and healthy lifestyle!