Parasites

[freeztar]

Parasites

Everyone's favorite topic. :hihi:

 

Most people are familiar with the macroscopic parasites such as mosquitos, ticks (my mortal enemies), and fleas, but I doubt most people are familiar with microscopic parasites such as this brain eating bug!! :)

 

I recently went through a bout with giardia (another amoeba) and am still reeling from the infection (doc says I may never fully recover :hihi: ). It frustrates me because I love water, but feel hesitant to swim in a lake or river now. Some say the cases of infection are only going to rise as climate change occurs.

 

What are your experiences/thoughts about parasites? Do you know of some particularly interesting examples? What can we do to better protect ourselves from these fiends?

[LaurieAG]

What are your experiences/thoughts about parasites? Do you know of some particularly interesting examples? What can we do to better protect ourselves from these fiends?

 

Hi Freeztar,

 

Morgellons disease: The itch that won't be scratched - health - 12 September 2007 - New Scientist

 

I read about Morgellons disease in the New Scientist Magazine. Apparently it is a fungus infection that produces similar effects to mental diseases and has been confused with them, much to the detriment of the sufferers.

[Hill]

Parasites

Everyone's favorite topic.

 

What are your experiences/thoughts about parasites? Do you know of some particularly interesting examples? What can we do to better protect ourselves from these fiends?

I do know that if you ever get to Tokyo, you won't want to miss Meguro Parasitological Museum :eek:

Try to think about parasites without a feeling of and take the time to learn about their wonderful world of the Parasites.

Type the name for a Google picture search. :camera: I'll not burden you with the pix here. Oh, OK, just a mild one.

[freeztar]

Hi Freeztar,

 

Morgellons disease: The itch that won't be scratched - health - 12 September 2007 - New Scientist

 

I read about Morgellons disease in the New Scientist Magazine. Apparently it is a fungus infection that produces similar effects to mental diseases and has been confused with them, much to the detriment of the sufferers.

 

This wiki article makes it seem unclear whether or not Morgellons disease is fungal, bacterial, or delusional.

Morgellons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[freeztar]

I do know that if you ever get to Tokyo, you won't want to miss Meguro Parasitological Museum :eek:

 

I'll keep that in mind.

 

Type the name for a Google picture search. :camera: I'll not burden you with the pix here.

 

Yeah, I did that when I had giardia. All kinds of fun stuff that loves us.

 

Oh, OK, just a mild one.

 

What is that "thing" in the upper right hand corner?

It looks like something you'd see while scuba diving.

[Hill]

I'll keep that in mind. :hihi:

 

 

 

Yeah, I did that when I had giardia. All kinds of fun stuff that loves us.

 

 

 

What is that "thing" in the upper right hand corner?

It looks like something you'd see while scuba diving.

 

Just a guess, but maybe a liver fluke?

[Queso]

tumeric and pumpkin seeds are good for killing internal parasites.

[freeztar]

Just a guess, but maybe a liver fluke?

 

Good guess, they certainly look very similar. Unfortunately, that fluke is way to small to be that 'jarred' specimen.

[freeztar]

tumeric and pumpkin seeds are good for killing internal parasites.

 

Where'd you hear that from?

Do you mean together? Or each on their own?

 

Lovely Rita, meter maid :hihi:

Freezy

[Cedars]

Parasites

Everyone's favorite topic. :hihi:

 

What are your experiences/thoughts about parasites? Do you know of some particularly interesting examples? What can we do to better protect ourselves from these fiends?

 

Interesting example.

 

Growing up, a neighbor traveled the world doing ecological studies. One way these guys used to avoid having trouble with the water or foods (I forget which) was they would infect themselves with tape worm. Something about having a tapeworm reduced their chances of having other gut disease bouts while out on the sides of Nepals mountains, Indias forests, etc.

 

IIRC, 3 days of prune juice expelled the introduced worm.

 

Other note. My camping trip on the St Croix had a warning about some kind of microscopic trouble maker rearing its head in the waters with the attached advisory about not drinking the water/boiling water. I had brought in my own water for the trip so I was not at risk.

[Ganoderma]

when i am out and about i avoid touching my face or drinking water...stay as clean as possible. when i need water form the lakes and stuff (providing i have a metal container) i boil the piss out of the water first. beaver fever is the one i was always worried about! luckily have not got it.

 

fungal infections i fear most cause spores are often air borne. anything that spreads via air scares the crap out of me!

[Hill]

Good guess, they certainly look very similar. Unfortunately, that fluke is way to small to be that 'jarred' specimen.

 

Maybe it's a scaled-up relative from a Larger Species :hihi:

[Hill]

Parasites

 

I recently went through a bout with giardia (another amoeba) and am still reeling from the infection (doc says I may never fully recover :hihi: ). It frustrates me because I love water, but feel hesitant to swim in a lake or river now. Some say the cases of infection are only going to rise as climate change occurs.

 

I meant to ask. Did you pick up the giardia simply by swimming in a lake, or did you drink untreated water?

[freeztar]

I meant to ask. Did you pick up the giardia simply by swimming in a lake, or did you drink untreated water?

 

I'm not certain. I had it for many months and my symptoms were mild enough that I didn't take action for a long time. I have drank from streams in north GA, but I knew the watershed was free of bovines. Apparently that doesn't matter! Also, I have a bad habit of biting my nails. It could have been that I was exposed to some contaminated water and unconsciously chewed on my nail and was infected that way. I wish I knew for sure. :P

 

I didn't even think of giardia as a possibility as my friends who have gotten it suffer terrible symptoms including dysentery and abdominal cramps. I eventually went to a gastroenterologist because I was having an abundance of watery stool...for a long time. He never took a stool sample and claimed that giardia is very hard to determine from stool samples as it is not present in all stools. I had my blood tested for food allergies and through talking to me, my doc determined that it was giardia. I took Flagyl, an antibiotic, for ten days and my symptoms got slightly better, but they are not gone. He said it usually takes weeks for the system to recover. A colleague of mine who has gotten it says that it took him six months to recover. And as I stated in my original post, my doc said some people are disrupted for life. In my case, only time will tell.

 

I've certainly learned my lesson though. :confused:

[Ganoderma]

Is Flagyl the same stuff used for pinworms? i am fairly certain that is what i used with my reptiles to get rid of pin worms. Febenzenol or some funky chemist name lol.

 

how you feeling now? thats pretty rough :confused:

[freeztar]

Is Flagyl the same stuff used for pinworms? i am fairly certain that is what i used with my reptiles to get rid of pin worms. Febenzenol or some funky chemist name lol.

 

That might be the same thing, but pin worms are not listed on this Flagyl factsheet. metronidazole (Flagyl) - drug class, medical uses, medication side effects, and drug interactions by MedicineNet.com

 

how you feeling now? thats pretty rough :confused:

 

I'm slightly better, but definitely not normal...especially for 29. :P

[freeztar]

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

When a parasite, virus, or other pathogen attacks, animals typically fight back with their immune system. But a new study of rodents infected with malaria shows that animals have another option: They can evolve to live with their invaders. The findings, reported in the 2 November issue of Science, may help scientists understand the evolution and spread of infectious diseases, as well as allow them to create hardier livestock.

Plants have two strategies for dealing with parasites: They can resist them--developing a hardy defense like tough leaves--or they can tolerate them--minimizing the damage the invaders cause by, say, increasing photosynthesis to boost energy stores. Most do a little of both. Lars Råberg, an ecologist at the University of Edinburgh in the U.K., wondered if animals make similar choices.

Parasites: Beat Them or Join Them? -- Quill 2007 (1101): 4 -- ScienceNOW