Intestinal Worms Losing Weight

Intestinal worms, also known as parasitic worms, are one of the main types of intestinal parasites in humans. They’re most commonly found in subtropical and tropical regions, but some types are found in the United States.

Most intestinal worm infections only cause mild illness and can be treated with medication. Read on to learn more about intestinal worms including signs, symptoms, and treatment.

A person with intestinal worms may also experience dysentery. Dysentery is when an intestinal infection causes diarrhea with blood and mucus in the stool. Intestinal worms can also cause a rash or itching around the rectum or vulva. In some cases, you will pass a worm in your stool during a bowel movement.

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Worms in your gut eventually pass through your digestive system and are excreted in your feces. Even if you don’t have any symptoms, you may find signs of worms in your stool.

Worms in human poop can take a number of appearances. For roundworms, you may find pieces of worms or large, live worms in your feces. For pinworms, you may see thin, white worms that appear like pieces of thread. Pinworms, which are about the

A doctor can analyze a sample of your stool in a lab for signs of worms or eggs that can confirm a diagnosis.

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More than 70 types of flukes can live in the human intestinal tract. They range from a fraction of an inch to several inches long. Humans can become infected by eating contaminated food or water. Flukes are most common in East and Southeast Asia.

People in the world are infected with pinworms, and they’re the most common type of worm that infects humans in North America. Children are most commonly infected. They’re easily passed between people living in close quarters.

People are infected with hookworms. They were once common in the United States, particularly in the Southeast, but they’ve become less common as living standards have improved. Most people infected with hookworms have no symptoms.

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People in the world. It’s rare in the United States but may occur in the rural Southeast. Infection occurs from contaminated food or water. Adult worms can grow more than a

One way to become infected with intestinal worms is by eating undercooked meat from an infected animal, such as a cow, pig, or fish. Other possible causes leading to intestinal worm infection include:

Once you’ve consumed the contaminated substance, the parasite travels into your intestines. Then they reproduce and grow in the intestine. Once they reproduce and become larger in amount and size, symptoms may appear.

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Children are particularly susceptible to intestinal worms because they often play in environments with contaminated soil, such as sandboxes and school playgrounds. Older adults are also at increased risk due to weakened immune systems.

Of the world’s population is infected with soil-transmitted worms. Infections are most common in tropical and subtropical regions, in particular, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, China, and East Asia.

People living in and visiting developing countries are at the highest risk due to drinking water from contaminated sources and decreased sanitation levels.

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Intestinal worms increase your risk for anemia and intestinal blockages, as well as malnutrition. Complications occur more frequently in older adults and in people who have suppressed immune systems, such as people with HIV/AIDS infection.

Intestinal worm infections can pose a higher risk if you’re pregnant. If you’re pregnant and are found to have an intestinal worm infection, your doctor will determine which antiparasitic medication therapy is safe to take during pregnancy and will monitor you closely while you are treated during pregnancy.

Most types of worms that infect humans only cause mild symptoms, but it’s still important to contact a doctor if you suspect a worm infection so you can get treated early. Medication is often effective at getting rid of worms.

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If you have any of the above signs, and especially if you have traveled out of the country recently, you should make an appointment with a doctor. A doctor may then examine your stool. It may take several stool samples to confirm the parasite’s presence.

Another test is the “Scotch tape” test, which involves applying tape to the anus several times in order to retrieve pinworm eggs, which can be identified under a microscope.

If worms or eggs are not detected, a doctor may carry out a blood test to look for antibodies that your body produces when it’s infected with a parasite. However, only some parasites are detectable with blood tests.

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Additionally, a doctor may take an X-ray or use imaging tests such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), depending on the extent or locations of the condition suspected.

Some types of intestinal worms, such as tapeworms, may disappear on their own if you have a strong immune system and healthy diet and lifestyle. However, depending on the type of intestinal worm infection, you may require treatment with an antiparasitic medication.

Medications for intestinal worms are usually taken for 1 to 3 days. Symptoms typically begin to improve within a few weeks. Your doctor will most likely take and analyze another stool sample after treatment is complete to see if the worms have disappeared.

The Parasite Underground

To prevent intestinal worms, regularly wash your hands with soap and hot water before and after using the toilet and before preparing or eating foods.

If you’re visiting developing countries, cook fruits and vegetables with boiled or purified water before eating, and avoid contact with soil that may be contaminated with human feces.

Has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.As a man walks barefoot outdoors, unknowingly his feet encounter very tiny worms. Secretly, one or more of the parasites crawl onto his skin — and then through it. Once inside, these hookworms move around until they end up in their victim’s gut. They latch onto their host’s intestines and from there feast on his blood.

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This is not the script for some horror movie. It’s what has already happened to roughly one in every four people on Earth. That’s some 1.9 billion people. But a new study in rodents suggests that hosting these hookworms may have some upsides: weight control and a healthier immune system.

Let’s not downplay the fact that hookworms can bring misery. They eat some of their hosts’ blood, leaving them with lower levels of iron. This may make it hard for the bloodstream to carry a normal load of oxygen through the body, a condition known as anemia (Uh-NEE-mee-uh). The worms also can cause painful rashes and stunt a child’s growth and development. Few doctors, then, would ever prescribe the worms to their patients. But the new data do point to how mammals may have evolved to deal with — indeed, accommodate — some common, nasty infections. And people have had a long time to deal with hookworms. Even ancient mummies show signs of being infected.

In countries that are not so industrialized, “there are lots of infectious diseases, including worm infections, ” notes Haining Shi. He studies diseases in children at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. People who live in such countries, he adds, also have lower rates of certain chronic (long-term) diseases than do folks in industrial nations. This prompted Shi’s team to test an idea: Might parasites help prevent some serious, chronic ailments?

Worms In Humans

The group decided to focus on obesity. One third of U.S. adults are obese. Nearly one in every six children also are overweight or obese. Carrying too much body fat can lead to a host of other serious health problems, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Obesity comes from consuming more energy, in the form of food, than the body uses. But not all bodies use energy with the same efficiency. And Shi’s team now shows that parasitic worms change how efficiently a body uses energy — at least in mice.

The researchers chose mice as a model for what might be expected to occur in people. Like people, mice that eat high-fat foods tend to get fat. These animals also can host parasitic worms. The parasite that Shi chose to work with,

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(Heh-LIG-moh-soh-MOY-ih-dees Pah-lee-GY-rus), is not a hookworm. And it does not live in people. But hookworms are a type of nematode (NEE-muh-toad). And this worm is a nematode similar to the hookworms that infect people.

The scientists divided mice into four groups. Two groups were fed a normal diet. The rest ate high-fat chow. The researchers infected one group of mice on each of the two diets with nematode

The noninfected mice eating the high-fat food nearly doubled in size. But they were the only group to do so. All animals on the regular food grew at the normal rate. So did worm-infected mice eating the high-fat food.

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If the weight loss happened because infected mice were losing blood to the worms, why didn’t those on a normal diet lose weight compared to the uninfected mice? The answer, Shi’s group showed, was a bit complicated. The worms changed how the infected mice processed high-fat meals.

When uninfected mice