A conference on Multiple Chemical Sensitivities held in Aug. 2001 in Santa Fe, New Mexico was discussed in a newsletter from Share, Care & Prayer (www.sharecareprayer.org, the conference is available on videotapes loaned through the mail by their library or the videotapes can be purchased from Chemical Injury Information Network, at chemicalinjury@ciin.org, 406- 547-2255). At the conference, a talk was given by Dr.Grace Ziem, who found a number of patterns based on testing her patients. She found taurine, glutamine and glycine were the most deficient amino acids in her studies. Also, 87% were deficient in secretory IgA, 37.5% had Entamoeba histolytica, 57% had Toxoplasma, 62.5% had Candidia, 73% had a deficiency in the pancreatic enzyme chymotrypsin and small percentages had Helicobacter pylori, Giardia, Cryptosporidium and Clostridium dificile.
The Toxoplasma (Toxoplasma gondii) finding particularly interested me. I don't remember having seen it mentioned in the arena of MCS, GWS, FMS, CFS before. I looked it up in Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (1997). It said it was an obligate intracellular parasite (bacterial) that you can get from undercooked pork and lamb and even a single cyst can cause infection. Cats can also get it. I noticed that it required 2 antibiotics for treatment (pyrimethamine plus sulfadiazine). Since these antibiotics are not mentioned for treating Mycoplasma or Lyme, it seems there would be potential to miss its contribution to illness and this might explain some of those who don't respond to other antibiotics. Apparently, healthy people infected with toxoplasma are frequently without symptoms, but those who are immune compromised can have a lot of problems (even brain infections).
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Information Exchange
"It is common to get false-negative results when tested for parasites. Testing by stool sample is often inconclusive; the sample may not show evidence of parasites even while the ova or eggs are hiding out in the intestinal wall. Parasites reside in mucus, so the most accurate tests employ mucoid matter in the stool." - page 66
"Stanley Weinberger, certified metabolic technician and expert on the treatment of parasites notes that any intervention should be carried out for a minimum of 2 months. This will ensure complete elimination of ova which were not hatched during the first month." - page 67
The Rebellious Body, Reclaim Your Life from Environmental Illness or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome by Janice Strubbe Wittenberg, R.N.
... around the world have stated that parasite infestation is the number one health problem in the world. Yet your friendly, local doctor is unaware for the most part. Or it may be that he is simply unwilling to waste time trying to convince people of the problem. In the United States we seem to believe that parasites are only problems for poor people from some third world country. We are too clean and civilized to ever have parasite problems. Think again! Recent studies published in major medical journals state that the average American is carrying around two pounds of parasites in their body."
http://www.toolsforhealing.com/products/Product_differences.htm
... that the incidence of protozoa infestation in the United States is astounding, especially compared to countries with reputations for being poorly sanitized. When Louis Parrish, M.D., of New York, analyzed 300 of his patients, he found that 65 percent of the patients with American ancestry were infested with both Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia, compared to 38 percent of his Indian-born patients and 52 percent of the Mexican-born patients....'The symptoms these organisms produce in humans are so varied, intermittent, and similar to other infections involving the immune system that only relatively recetnly are they being recognized as a primary cause of generalized illness.'"
"In a study of 403 patients suffering from symptoms of CFIDS, New York parasitologist Hermann Bueno and Dr. Galland found that an astonishing 93 percent tested positive for protozoa infestation in the intestines. Of the detected protozoa, Entamoeba histolytica was the main invader, followed by Giardia lamblia."
From The Downhill Syndrome by Dr. Pavel Yutsis and Dr. Morton Walker
... is that a newly discovered parasite, christened Cryptostrongylus pulmoni (hidden lungworm) by its discoverer Dr. Larry Klapow, is a contributor. This roundworm, postulates Klapow, made its way to Southeast Asia from its native Australia, and was brought to the United States during the Vietnam War. The worm can contaminate food and water - as well as the blood of its animal and human hosts. Most other worms can be detected with a stool test, but Cryptostrongylus purportedly travels clandestinely for years from its victims' lungs to intestines - and back again - navigating through blood vessels and gut walls, wrecking havoc without detection." - page 102
from Sugars That Heal by Emil I. Mondoa, M.D. and Mindy Kitei
...is as difficult to diagnose as chronic fatigue syndrome itself. One of the main problems related to the study of parasitic infections and their link to systemic illness is the fact that 'most parasitology laboratories fail to find the majority of intestinal parasites in stool specimens submitted to them...'"
from Alternative Medicine Guide to Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Environmental Illness by Burton Goldberg and colleagues
Are you suffering from chronic fatigue? Do you have health problems your doctor can't identify? Parasites in your body may be the cause."
from Guess What Came to Dinner - Parasites and Your Health by Ann Louise Gittleman
...Medical studies show that as high as 85% of the adult population have one or more types of parasites. Both adults and children have up to 150 varieties of parasites. Our body is host to parasites, viruses, and bacteria. They rob us of our energy and they eat the food we eat, including the health supplements we take. They cause accumulation of toxins leading to illness and death. The good news is that these parasites can be eliminated very easily by using basic herbal remedies. This solution is very quick, cheap, and easy! Isn't it odd that veterinarians advise deworming of our pets twice a year, yet our doctors never mention parasites to us?"
From The Bob Livingston Letter, P.O. Box 110013, Birmingham, AL 35211
...is a totally new view of disease. She gives hope to sufferers. Her ideas make sense and people have had success getting rid of CFS using her methods. She attributes chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia to parasites which house bacteria and viruses. She says pollutants are enabling the parasites to crawl into parts of our bodies that they would not normally have gone. Chronic fatigue syndrome and MS victims have brain lesions. What causes these holes in the brain tissue? A parasite crawling through the tissue sounds like a very reasonable explanation.
Hulda is the ONLY researcher who says that parasites that have invaded the tissues and organs cause the disease. The only references by doctors regarding parasites mentions that having them in the digestive tract can contribute to CFS. It is as though the medical community doesn't want to acknowledge that parasites can travel outside of the digestive tract even though it is well documented.
"For bacteria to get all over your body, they must be riding along with parasites that get all over your body. Microscopically tiny roundworms can do this. Trichinella is the most common cause of these diseases, but sometimes Ascaris larvae or hookworms or strongyle larvae are the main culprits."
The Cure for All Diseases by Hulda Clark - page 76
... are the first symptoms of trichinosis. Headaches, fevers, chills, cough, eye swelling, aching joints and muscle pains, itchy skin, diarrhea, or constipation follow the first symptoms. If the infection is heavy, patients may experience difficulty coordinating movements, and have heart and breathing problems. In severe cases, death can occur."
"When a human or animal eats meat that contains infective Trichinella cysts, the acid in the stomach dissolves the hard covering of the cyst and releases the worms. The worms pass into the small intestine and, in 1-2 days, become mature. After mating, adult females lay eggs. Eggs develop into immature worms, travel through the arteries, and are transported to muscles. Within the muscles, the worms curl into a ball and encyst (become enclosed in a capsule)."
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/trichinosis/factsht_trichinosis.htm
If you are heavily infected, you may have abdominal pain. Sometimes, while the immature worms migrate through the lungs, you may cough and have difficulty breathing. If you have a very heavy worm infection, your intestines may become blocked."
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/ascaris/factsht_ascaris.htm
...or sand is usually the first sign of infection. These symptoms occur when the larvae penetrate the skin. While a light infection may cause no symptoms, heavy infection can cause anemia, abdominal pain, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and weight loss. Heavy, chronic infections can cause stunted growth and mental development."
"Hookworm infection can also cause tiredness, difficulty breathing, enlargement of the heart, and irregular heartbeat."
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/hookworm/factsht_hookworm.htm
Strongyloides stercoralis. Other Strongyloides include S. fülleborni, which infects chimpanzees and baboons and may produce limited infections in humans.
"The filariform larvae penetrate the human host skin to initiate the parasitic cycle (see below). "Parasitic cycle: Filariform larvae in contaminated soil penetrate the human skin, and are transported to the lungs where they penetrate the alveolar spaces; they are carried through the bronchial tree to the pharynx, are swallowed and then reach the small intestine. In the small intestine they molt twice and become adult female worms. The females live threaded in the epithelium of the small intestine and by parthenogenesis produce eggs, which yield rhabditiform larvae. The rhabditiform larvae can either be passed in the stool (see "Free-living cycle" above), or can cause autoinfection. In autoinfection, the rhabditiform larvae become infective filariform larvae, which can penetrate either the intestinal mucosa (internal autoinfection) or the skin of the perianal area (external autoinfection); in either case, the filariform larvae may follow the previously described route, being carried successively to the lungs, the bronchial tree, the pharynx, and the small intestine where they mature into adults; or they may disseminate widely in the body. To date, occurrence of autoinfection in humans with helminthic infections is recognized only in Strongyloides stercoralis and Capillaria philippinensis infections. In the case of Strongyloides, autoinfection may explain the possibility of persistent infections for many years in persons who have not been in an endemic area and of hyperinfections in immunodepressed individuals."
http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/Strongyloidiasis.htm
Fatigue, whether minor or extreme, is always associated with blood sugar disturbances. The more disturbance, the more fatigue. We have three organs that do most of the sugar regulating: our adrenals, the liver, and the islets in the pancreas. In severe fatigue, that keeps you partly bedridden, all three organs are heavily parasitized. Epstein Barre Virus (EBV) is running amok in your body, as a rule, even when clinical culture techniques cannot find it. Killing the viruses is not as important as killing the larger parasites and getting your organs functioning for you again. The viruses will go away by themselves.
"Sheep liver flukes [fasciola] are commonly seen in fatigue syndrome cases."
"The heart of sugar regulation is in your pancreas in the tiny islands of cells that secrete insulin, called the islets of Langerhans. Here we always find the pancreatic fluke in residence. It actually breeds there when wood alcohol accumulates in it."
The Cure for All Diseases by Hulda Clark - page 182
...and Fasciola gigantica, parasites of herbivores that can infect humans accidentally."
"Immature eggs are discharged in the biliary ducts and in the stool. Eggs become embryonated in water, eggs release miracidia, which invade a suitable snail intermediate host, including many species of the genus Lymnae. In the snail the parasites undergo several developmental stages (sporocysts, rediae, and cercariae). The cercariae are released from the snail and encyst as metacercariae on aquatic vegetation or other surfaces. Mammals acquire the infection by eating vegetation containing metacercariae. Humans can become infected by ingesting metacercariae-containing freshwater plants, especially watercress. After ingestion, the metacercariae excyst in the duodenum and migrate through the intestinal wall, the peritoneal cavity, and the liver parenchyma into the biliary ducts, where they develop into adults. In humans, maturation from metacercariae into adult flukes takes approximately 3 to 4 months. The adult flukes (Fasciola hepatica: up to 30 mm by 13 mm; F. gigantica: up to 75 mm) reside in the large biliary ducts of the mammalian host. Fasciola hepatica infect various animal species, mostly herbivores.
"Fascioliasis occurs worldwide. Human infections with F. hepatica are found in areas where sheep and cattle are raised, and where humans consume raw watercress, including Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Infections with F. gigantica have been reported, more rarely, in Asia, Africa, and Hawaii."
http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/Fascioliasis.htm
- from http://www.toolsforhealing.com/Health/Parasites/Parasites.htm
by Dr. Ross Anderson I believe, the single most undiagnosed health challenge in the history of the human race is parasites. I realize that is a pretty brave statement, but it is based on my 20 years of experience with more than 20,000 patients. In order to substantiate my belief, I'd like to present you with some facts. I'm sure that by the time you're finished reading this document, you'll be convinced of the parasite challenge and of the need for a fail-safe natural parasitic cleansing method.
The signs of parasites in the human body
In North America today, almost everybody is ill. If you look at your family, friends, and co-workers, and question them very carefully (because so many people deny there is anything wrong with them), you will find that virtually everybody has a health challenge, many of which are significant. How many of the people you know over the age of 45 are on blood pressure medication or medication of some sort, to balance their blood sugar - perhaps even on insulin? How many people do you know in their 20's and 30's, who are suffering from chronic fatigue, and many of them may not even know it because they think they are normal? They think it's normal to have to go to bed at 8:30 p.m. every night, and it's normal to sleep until 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon on Saturday, just to get through the weekend. How many people do you know in their 40's and that have recently died of cancer?
It's hard to imagine a situation that has reached this kind of degraded health potential in what we call the age of technology, a time when we are supposed to have all the tools necessary to stay healthy. In reality, the health of the North American population is deteriorating. We may be living longer, but we are not living healthier, and the quality of life for the average North American over the age of 45 has decreased significantly in the last 10 years.
So how has the situation gotten to this point? Well, there are many factors involved, but one of the most significant is the existence of parasites in the human body. Parasites do not only occur in the Third World countries. They are in every country of the world.
What exactly is a parasite? A parasite is an organism that lives off the host, the host being you or me. The parasite lives a parallel life inside our bodies, feeding off either our own energy, our own cells or the food we eat, or even feeding off the health supplements we use. In recent medical studies, it has been estimated that 85% of the North American adult population has at least one form of parasite living in their bodies. Some authorities feel this figure may be as high as 95%.
The immediate question that comes to mind when people are informed of this situation is: How can a parasite possibly live in my body and I don't even know it is there? The answer to this is simple. The purpose of a parasite is to not make itself known. A smart parasite lives without being detected because if it is detected, of course, something is going to be done to eradicate it. If you think parasites are stupid, think again. They are highly intelligent organisms, not intelligent in the same way humans are, but they are intelligent in their ability to survive and reproduce, which is of course, the purpose of any organism on this planet. It sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? And in ways it is, but, it can make life for humans very complicated.
So how can a parasite exist in the body without making its presence known? If you know how to read the body and how to interpret its signals, then the presence of a parasite can be determined quite easily. However, if you accept that it is normal to have low energy levels, health challenges, skin rashes, pains, frequent colds, flu and constipation (the list is endless for the things parasites will cause), then you may never question whether you have parasites.
In the book, "Animals Parasitic in Man." by Geoffrey Lapage, he states : "There is no part of the human body, nor indeed, any part of the bodies of the hosts of parasitic animals in general, which is not visited by some kind of parasitic animal at some time or another, during their life histories." This means parasites can occur anywhere in your body. No organ is immune from their infestation.
If you were tested by a doctor for parasites, chances are the results would come back negative. Does this mean you do not have parasites? Unfortunately, medical testing procedures only catch about 20% of the actual cases of parasites. There are over a 1,000 species of parasites that can live in your body; tests are available for only approximately 40 to 50 types. This means doctors are only testing for about 5% of the parasites and missing 80% of those. This brings the ability to clinically find parasites down to 1%. Now, if I had a 1% chance of winning in the stock market, I don't think I would invest!
Once you've established that you do have parasites, taking drugs to get rid of them may not always work. This is because a drug will often drive a parasite from one organ of the body to another. It's like people moving to better climates to make their living conditions more pleasant, or birds flying south for the winter. The book, "Medical Parasitology," by Markell and Voge, points out that therapy to remove entire tapeworms from the small intestine is only successful if the whole worm is expelled. If the head remains, the entire worm will grow back.
How, then, do you determine if you have parasites? In order to understand how this is determined, you have to understand what a parasite does. A parasite eats, lays eggs and secretes. Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? First let's look at the "eats" part. Depending on the kind, parasites will eat different things. Some parasites love sugar, for instance. If you are a person who craves sugar, you may have a sugar loving parasite. In fact, parasites are known to be one of the causes of diabetic tendencies and blood sugar discrepancies. These parasites live off the food that goes into your body. They exist mainly in the digestive tract, but can be found in the liver, as well as throughout the body.
Other parasites actually get their nutrition directly from the cells of the body. They can literally attach themselves anywhere and suck nutrition out of the cells. These parasites are significantly more dangerous because they can travel to places in the body where they can do a lot more damage than a parasite living exclusively in the digestive tract.
As if it wasn't bad enough to have an uninvited guest living in your body, the parasites eat your nutrients before you do! They get the best nutrients, and you get the scraps and leftovers. They grow healthy and fat, yet your organs and skin starve for nutrition. What's more, parasites can remain in your body for 10, 20, or even 30 years.
To illustrate the longevity of parasites in the human body, consider this example. In 1979, a British study reported on 600 former prisoners from World War II. These men had been stationed in the Far East. Thirty years after the war, 15% were still infected with a parasite called Strongyloides that they had contracted during the war. This means you could have eaten meat 10 years ago that was contaminated and still be hosting the tapeworms or other types of parasites that were in that meat.
Let's now look at the way parasites reproduce. First of all, we need to understand that there are two major categories of parasites: Large parasites, which are primarily worms and small parasites, which are mainly microscopic in size, including what are called protozoa and amoebae. Despite their almost invisibility, small parasites can be dangerous. Microscopic parasites can get into your joints and eat the calcium linings of your bones. This can lead to arthritic tendencies. They can also eat the protein coating on your nerves (the myelin sheath) and this can cause a disruption in the nerve signal from the brain. One type of tiny parasite which infects the colon is called Entamoeba Histolytica. This type of infection can also be found in the liver, the lungs, and the brain. The disease is called amebiasis, and is often transmitted via contaminated food or water.
Large parasites, which are the worm type, are usually large enough to be seen by the naked eye. Some can be up to 10, 12 or even 15 inches long and in most cases cannot travel to other parts of the body, other than the digestive tract. Although, in tropical countries there are cases of worms actually burrowing out of the digestive tract into blood vessels and muscles of the body, where they can do significantly more damage. This is incredibly rare in North America. It never ceases to amaze me, when I hear about an adult passing a worm in total amazement, that they could have had such a creature living inside of their body for possibly years.
The smaller organisms, the protozoa and amoebae, can function almost like bacteria by traveling through the bloodstream to virtually any part of the body. They reproduce without laying eggs and behave more like an infection in the body than do the larger parasites.
The larger parasites are worms which reproduce by laying eggs. Eggs are deposited in the anal tract, where they stick to the walls of the intestines. When the eggs hatch, the young feed on the food that we eat and eventually grow into adults. The adults then repeat the process. The smaller parasites reproduce without the process of laying eggs. They reproduce by duplicating themselves in a manner similar to bacteria or viral reproduction.
The third thing that parasites do is secrete. All organisms secrete something, whether it be lubricants, waste materials, protective liquids for warding off viruses, bacteria and other harmful organisms, or secretions to help attract food. No matter what the secretion is - the secretion can be a toxin of the host organism. Simply put, the secretions from parasites in our bodies are poisons and toxins that our bodies are forced to deal with by increasing the process of detoxification.
Anyone who has experienced food poisoning or dysentery will tell you how debilitating these toxins can be. Once on vacation in Mexico, I lost 12 pounds in 12 hours. I could not walk and was totally delirious. Within two days of the parasite leaving my body, I was back to my regular weight and feeling perfectly normal. This of course, is an extreme case of a very high level of toxins from an acute parasitic infection
. On the other end, a chronic parasitic infection secreting low levels of toxins can create an extremely stressed immune system which may allow varied health challenges to develop. When the immune system is stressed over a long period of time it, of course, becomes weak. When the immune system becomes weakened, our bodies become susceptible to infections of other kinds. This can be an extremely dangerous situation in this day and age because we are exposed to more viruses than ever before. Also, they are changing and adapting at a very fast rate as are the bacteria, many of which are now resistant to antibiotics and other artificial measures that are used to combat them.
A healthy immune system is one of the primary sources of energy in the human body. People with a weakened immune system tend to feel tired all the time - some people refer to this as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. If this sounds like you or someone you know, you may want to seriously consider the possibility of a depleted immune system caused by chronic parasitic infection.
If parasites secrete toxins into our bodies that the bodies have to neutralize, and we happen to be one of those people who drinks alcohol, smokes cigarettes, eats junk food and breathes polluted air, the extra stress and strain on the body's cleansing system can be enough to push the body into what we call toxic overload. Toxic overload occurs when the four cleansing systems of the body have been pushed too far by an overload of toxins in the body. Parasite toxins in the body are one more thing a toxic body does not need. There are four cleansing systems of the body: the lungs, kidneys, skin and bowel. With toxic bowel syndrome, the excess of toxins absorbed from a clogged bowel goes to the liver.
The liver is then overburdened, eventually unable to cope with the toxic load and the toxins start to spill into the bloodstream. Once this happens, the kidneys, lungs and skin have to take over the job of cleansing and they too become challenged in their ability to remain healthy. So you see, parasites can be one of the most damaging health factors threatening the world today.
The following are some descriptions of just a few worms that can get into your body and cause disease and toxicity.
"The Essentials of Medical Parasitology" by Thomas J. Brooks, says, "The tapeworms are among the oldest parasites of the human race. Indeed, some species have become so well adapted to live in the human intestine that the host (man) may be entirely asymptomatic." This means you may have a tapeworm and not appear to have any symptoms.
The fish tapeworm is the largest of the human tapeworms, reaching the length of 33 feet or more. There can be 3,000 to 4,000 segments in one worm. It can produce more than 1,000,000 eggs a day. This type of infestation can case anemia because of interference with vitamin B12, says Dr. Brooks in his book. Also, the weight challenges of some people can be directly attributed to tapeworms. This is especially true of weight loss programs that don't work. The person may be hosting a tapeworm which is eating all the food and making the person constantly hungry. Tapeworms can also cause water retention.
Besides tapeworms from beef, pork and fish, there is also a type of dog tapeworm you can get when dogs lick your face or hands. Pinworms are very infectious and can cause a lot of itchiness in the anal area. "The worms deposit their eggs mostly at night, contaminating pajamas and bed linen," writes Dr. Brook. "The eggs are readily transported through the air, and it is not uncommon to find them in every room of the house... complications are much more common in women than in men." Pinworms can also be found in the vulva, uterus and fallopian tubes because the female worm loses her way while trying to return to the anus after depositing her eggs.
Another type of roundworm that can be present in humans is whipworms. These insidious creatures actually inject a digestive fluid which converts the colon tissue into liquid which the worms suck up. Dr. Norman Stoll, a former worm expert at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, estimated that the roundworm infects about 644 million people in the world. This was in the 1940's and there are no doubt a lot more people infected with roundworm now! Dr. Brooks believes nutritional deficiencies are seen in heavy roundworm infections.
Hookworms bite and suck on the intestinal wall, which can cause bleeding and necrosis (death of the tissue). In severe infections, iron deficiency becomes a therapeutic problem because of all the iron that is lost to the hookworm. Dr. Brooks says that, "hemoglobin levels as low as 15% of normal have been seen in patients with severe, long-standing hookworm disease. One species of hookworm in America is called "Necator Americanus," which means, "American Murderer."
So how do we get parasites? Well, let's have a careful look at this. If 85% to 90% of the adult population have parasites, and the parasites' goal in life is to live and reproduce, then the parasite needs to find a new place to live when its host perhaps isn't going to be around anymore. As I mentioned earlier, parasites are not stupid, and their sole goal in life is to live and reproduce at our expense.
Here is a list of ways parasites can get into your body: shaking hands, sharing someone else's soda can, kissing (even on the cheek), intimate sexual contact, and believe it or not, you can get parasites by inhaling dust which contains the dried form of these organisms. You can get parasites from the water of any of thousands of lakes, rivers, streams and creeks in North America. Giardia Lambia, which causes Giardia, is very common, for example. You can get parasites from eating meat. Do you really think government inspectors are able to inspect every animal that goes to the slaughterhouse? Another source of parasites is salads. Dr. Brooks estimates that the overall incidence of E. Histolytica. in the United States is between 3.9% and 10%. The distressing thing about parasites is that if you get rid of them, you can easily be reinfected. Married couples tend to have them together, and if one person is treated for the parasitic infection, they are often reinfected. by their spouse. It is extremely important that both be treated at the same time, and in many cases, the children should be treated along with their parents. A patient once said to me, "If parasites are so easy to catch, then why doesn't everyone have them?" The funny thing is, almost everybody does.