March 28, 2022 Puzzle Piece

CDC Warns of Common Parasites Plaguing Millions in U.S.

1. Chagas Disease - More than 300,000 American are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease, and more than 300 infected babies are born every year. Chagas disease is transmitted through a bite from the triatomine bug, which then deposits its feces in the skin opening.
   
   Some people may never know they have it as long as they live, but about a third of infections remain permanent, and a third of those develop serious chronic disease. Chagas disease can cause long-term digestive, cardiac and neurological complications.
    
2. Cysticercosis - The taenia solium tapeworm latches to human tissues, such as the brain and muscles. Larval cysts from the parasite form in the body and can cause a number of complications, including seizures. There are at least 1,000 hospitalizations for cysticercosis per year in the U.S. This tapeworm infection is often the result of eating uncooked pork that contains larval cysts.
    
3. Toxocaris - The vast majority of Americans (roughly 86%) don’t have antibodies protecting them from this roundworm infection.  We can get them from dogs and cats. 46 million people—14% of the US—have toxocariasis.  The CDC says true numbers are higher because people rarely connect many of the symptoms and even eventual blindness to roundworms.
    
4. Toxoplasmosis - In the U.S., more than 60 million people are chronically infected with toxoplasma gondii, contracted from coming in contact with cat feces. The parasite is also found in undercooked meat and even some unwashed fruits and vegetables. Health experts say toxoplasma can put pregnant women at risk for birth defects. Symptoms of this parasitic infection include swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches and eye complications.
    
5. Trichomoniasis - This affects 3.7 million people in the United States. However, only about 30 percent of people will actually develop symptoms, which can include itching and burning in the genital area, pain during urination and discharge. Every year, 1.1 million Americans contract trich, but hardly anyone knows because 70 percent of the people with it show no symptoms, according to the CDC.

 
International travel and immigration are common ways develop parasitic infections here in the U.S. The bottom line is that MILLIONS of Americans have parasitic infections and don’t realize it. According to the CDC, there are more than 100 million cases of the above five parasite infestations in Americans right now.
 
“Some of these parasites have evolved along with us for millennia,” says Bobbi Pritt, director of the Mayo Clinic's Clinical Parasitology Laboratory. “Many infestations don't cause symptoms, the symptoms are too vague, or they cause very internittant  symptoms, so they're not likely to come to medical attention until it's too late.”
 
Anti-Parasite Nutrients
Medicinal plants have been used throughout history to maintain the health, integrity, and security of the GI tract to address the presence of parasites. The modern discipline of pharmacognosy has identified specific chemicals within many medicinal plants that appear to be active molecules, particularly terpenes, alkaloids, and artemisinin.
 
Terpenes - Originally used to treat malaria, terpenes have been proven to arrest parasite development and inhibit growth. It has been shown to be harmless to humans while deadly to parasites.
 
Alkaloids - Like bacteria, parasites have developed resistance to drug resistance. Sophora moorcroftiana (S. moorcroftiana) is an alkaloid shrub that grows in Tibet Plateau of China. Decoction of the seeds has been used as a traditional Tibetan medicine to treat parasitosis for years. It acts as helminthic agent and destroys them.
 
Artemisinin - Derived from sweet wormwood, this nutrient has been proven to kill and digest parasites. It works by breaking down the parasite’s proteins and digesting them.