How prevalent are human parasites and should you be concerned?

No doubt parasites can be deadly.

Malaria is still the most important parasitic infection of humans, responsible for up to 2.7 million deaths per year. gateway.nlm.nih.gov...

The human body is truly amazing. Humans have survived unhygienic/harsh living conditions yet we thrive. We develop defenses over time.

Sickle hemoglobin provides the best example of a change in the hemoglobin molecule that impairs malaria growth and development. The initial hints of a relationship between the two came with the realization that the geographical distribution of the gene for hemoglobin S and the distribution of malaria in Africa virtually overlap.... Malaria does not occur in the cooler, drier climates of the highlands in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Neither does the gene for sickle hemoglobin.

Sickle trait provides a survival advantage over people with normal hemoglobin in regions where malaria is endemic. Sickle cell trait provides neither absolute protection nor invulnerability to the disease. Rather, people (and particularly children) infected with P. falciparum are more likely to survive the acute illness if they have sickle cell trait. When these people with sickle cell trait procreate, both the gene for normal hemoglobin and that for sickle hemoglobin are transmitted into the next generation. sickle.bwh.harvard.edu...

We have beneficial bacteria in our gut. Certainly our bodies developed ways of maintaining health despite ongoing attacks by a host of critters.

The artificial crap we introduce into our modern environment imo could negatively impact our ability to resist disease and infection. How parasites might play into this is anybody's guess.

reply to post by Drunkenshrew


DS, thank you for those posts. Are you in medicine? That natgeo video on the ants and the liver fluke is fascinating. I would suspect that cattle are given various remedies for that much like I give my dog heartworm medication.

I was hoping that the people viewing the sampling of sites and the video would comment and critique as you did. I found most sites dealing with parasites have a commercial tie-in of one sort or other and that typically rings alarm bells with me. Although most websites sell products to pay the bills and that shouldn't disqualify information outright. You'll notice that we have one poster that uses the "Hulda Zapper" and reports positive effects and another that blasts it out of the water. We know that websites promote completely legit products so it's very easy to throw out the baby with the bath water. I have some preconceptions with this topic but posting my uninformed opinion out front might shut down others from offering their expertise.

Every now and then I'll receive email offers, stumble on a website or see an infomercial touting treatments for parasites. I consider these treatments are in the same class as acai berries, mega-vitamins, weight loss products, etc. as for the way they are advertised. This topic seemed ripe for examination and debunking if it led there on ATS.

You seem to have a related background or have looked into this at length. Thanks again and please continue if you know more.

PS I had to look up "Entomophagy". Entomophagy is eating insects and as we've seen on "Survivor" and a number of travel programs that is done by various cultures.



[edit on 27-12-2009 by Hemisphere]

Originally posted by Maybe...maybe not
I don't believe the human parasite "problem" is one that should promote concern amongst people in general.

From all that I have read, there appears to be a low level of material health issues associated with human parasites.

I wonder how long it will be before someone throws a "Morgellons" comment into this thread?

Maybe, you threw one in you rascal! I had to look "Morgellons" up too but after I did, I recalled reading about that mysterious affliction. Perhaps someone will "scratch that itch" for us so to speak.

reply to post by Morningglory


Man, I hope that guy got help. They can rob you of nutrients we need to live then once they are big enough and reproduce, they can break out of the intestine and find a meal on ALL your other organs.

I read about a woman in San Diego who started getting headaches. They finally opened up her brain and found a worm common to pork! She made the medical journals and I don't have a reference handy.

Another couple allegedly ate uncooked snails and died from worms passing the blood brain barrier. Some parasites are so foriegn to our bodies even our own defenses won't stop them.

'Food' for thought next time you have a headache or daily headaches.

Originally posted by dereks

Originally posted by angelx666

yea, many, they come from food, water, other stuff, i rid of them with HULDA ZAPPER on a monthly basis,

Pity the Hulda Zapper does nothing at all for parasites....

www.quackwatch.com...

It is supposed to cure cancer, but Hulda Regehr Clark died from cancer.....

That link provides quite an extensive debunking of that product. Thank you for that dereks. Perhaps just another example of "If it sounds too good to be true, it is." Yet we have a poster here that experiences an positive effect from this device and if you go to the bottom of the quackwatch article it posts a number of patients that still swear by this Dr. Hulga Clark's treatments. Whatever the effect, it would be hard to link the treatments to eliminating parasites. The article also mentions Hulga Clark's doctorate was in zoology and she operated "a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, where the basic fee for two weeks of "treatment" was $4,500". Not a very positive review. Those of us not receiving her treatments are likely to think those that continue to tout them are experiencing a "placebo effect" from those treatments.

The entire story reminds me of a one time "mega-vitamin guru" that gave out better health and curative "information" on a radio show. That was Carlton Fredericks who promoted himself as "America's Foremost Nutritionist." FYI, he is also debunked on that same site and if you care to read about him:

A Close Look at Carleton Fredericks (1965)

His is a fascinating case and worthy of a separate thread as quakery and science were very much intertwined by that man.

reply to post by Morningglory


Malaria of course! You reminded me of something I read regarding people adapting to malaria. There are people of Mediterranean heritage that have, I think it is, a genetic blood disorder where under certain stresses their bodies destroy their own red blood cells causing anemia. They consider this also an evolutionary adaptation to malaria in that part of the world. But now the people and the genes have spread across the globe and so the anemia shows up for reasons unrelated to the malaria and is often misdiagnosed. This condition is similar to but not as serious as the sickle cell trait.

Here, I found something on this. It's called G6PD Deficiency:

G6PD deficiency is passed along in genes from one or both parents to a child. The gene responsible for this deficiency is on the X chromosome.

G6PD deficiency is most common in African-American males. Many African-American females are carriers of G6PD deficiency, meaning they can pass the gene for the deficiency to their children but do not have symptoms; only a few are actually affected by G6PD deficiency.

People of Mediterranean heritage, including Italians, Greeks, Arabs, and Sephardic Jews, also are commonly affected. The severity of G6PD deficiency varies among these groups — it tends to be milder in African-Americans and more severe in people of Mediterranean descent.

- kidshealth.org

Here's the entire article:

About G6PD Deficiency

Why does G6PD deficiency occur more often in certain groups of people? It is known that Africa and the Mediterranean basin are high-risk areas for the infectious disease malaria. Researchers have found evidence that the parasite that causes this disease does not survive well in G6PD-deficient cells. So they believe that the deficiency may have developed as a protection against malaria.

- kidshealth.org

And so parasites can and likely have altered the genetics of various human populations.

Originally posted by GTORick
reply to post by Morningglory

 

Man, I hope that guy got help. They can rob you of nutrients we need to live then once they are big enough and reproduce, they can break out of the intestine and find a meal on ALL your other organs.

I read about a woman in San Diego who started getting headaches. They finally opened up her brain and found a worm common to pork! She made the medical journals and I don't have a reference handy.

Another couple allegedly ate uncooked snails and died from worms passing the blood brain barrier. Some parasites are so foriegn to our bodies even our own defenses won't stop them.

'Food' for thought next time you have a headache or daily headaches.

Rick, you hit on a thought I had. What happens when that one hook worm reproduces? I imagine these could spread to other people once that happens. Very scary no matter how educated and confident this guy was.

Originally posted by Ferris.Bueller.II

Thought you were going to be talking about people like my sister, a true human parasite who'll steal from you at every opportunity. Even had to get a permanent restraining order for our mother against her.

FBII, that sounds like a job for the "Clark Zapper" if ever there was one. Well at least some type of "zapper".

to whom that calls Hulda Clark a quack :

i got the zapper info not from here, but from own research , such as 'riffe research' (i.e here : www.squarewaveresearch.com.pa... and so on

the parasites, that tries to discredit hulda clark are pharma-pro scammers, zapper works

hulda clark died from spinal cord injury and that quack watch and similar sites are specially designed to discredit anything 'natural' and promote pharma

free hulda clark book ' cure for all diseases' gallosegg.com...

thanks

[edit on 27-12-2009 by angelx666]

reply to post by GTORick

I said I in no way advocated the practice and personally would take a pass. I provided a link for your perusal. Just one mans take on things. Doesn't mean it's not deserving of a second look.

Approximately 5,000 people die of asthma each year in this country. www.emedicinehealth.com...

Who knows what can be learned from studying symbiotic relationships. We might be able to reap the benefits while avoiding harm.

Originally posted by Hemisphere
And so parasites can and likely have altered the genetics of various human populations.

I guess in a way you could say that but from what I understand it's more a case of natural selection. Those with the mutation were more likely to survive. Those survivors where the ones left to procreate and passed on the gene. Now whether this mutation arose because of parasitic infestations or was simply a fluke that seemed to work idk.

Originally posted by angelx666
to whom that calls Hulda Clark a quack :

i got the zapper info not from here, but from own research , such as 'riffe research' (i.e here : www.squarewaveresearch.com.pa... and so on

the parasites, that tries to discredit hulda clark are pharma-pro scammers, zapper works

hulda clark died from spinal cord injury and that quack watch and similar sites are specially designed to discredit anything 'natural' and promote pharma

free hulda clark book ' cure for all diseases' gallosegg.com...

thanks

angelx666, thank you for continuing to support your position. That's what this is all about. This is the reason they call it "research". If we got all the answers the first time through it would called "search". We will look into your information.

Originally posted by Morningglory

Originally posted by Hemisphere
And so parasites can and likely have altered the genetics of various human populations.

I guess in a way you could say that but from what I understand it's more a case of natural selection. Those with the mutation were more likely to survive. Those survivors where the ones left to procreate and passed on the gene. Now whether this mutation arose because of parasitic infestations or was simply a fluke that seemed to work idk.

Good point. It's hard to believe the parasite caused the mutation originally. Perhaps all large populations of humans have had similar variations in that gene. Just look at the list of peoples that have the G6PD. They were not necessarily interbreeding to any significant degree when this came about. And so the parasite living within a certain band of environmental conditions caused stress on the populations living within that same band thus bringing out the mutations in those populations. For instance an Inuit population would not show this genetic mutation because they were not pressured by the malaria. Just an amateur guess. Does that sound right?

Just an update. I searched Hulda Clark, Clark Zapper, Royal R. Rife and Square Wave Research through the randi.org site. This is the James Randi Educational Foundation site and they have researched, hounded and outed charlatans and their questionable methods over the years. I found not one mention of these people or the techniques.

However Quackwatch brings up 14 hits on the Randi site search. These however are merely mentions and cross references and nothing critical as far as I found. There is apparently something of a "debunking community".

Now, that the Randi site doesn't mention the Zapper and it's connections does not alone prove anything. But we're looking for more than one person or website to disprove the effectiveness of the methods and treatments.

Here's an article on Royal Raymond Rife from rense.com:

Royal Raymond Rife - Corrections & Perspective

Here's an excerpt:

Royal R. Rife did not die until 1971. By then, he was a broken, bitter, eighty-three year old man. He had been virtually invisible to mainstream medicine because of medical politics and financial interests since the mid-1940's. 'The War on Cancer,' begun in December 1971 three months after Rife's death, then sucked up 25 billion in the next 20 years for 'research' on cancer. The nationally distributed Scientific American magazine commented in January 1994:

U.S. Cancer death rates went up 7 percent between 1975 and 1990...Have the researchers and clinicians been barking up the wrong trees for the past two decades? - By Barry L. Lynes
11-12-00 as published on rense.com

Keep in mind that Rife doesn't prove Clark and vice versa. Even if Rife's work was correct it does not mean that Clark's recommendations and the products she was promoting were capable of the cures.

Here is another article on Rife from the San Francisco Tesla Society website. Of particular interest is a short video on "Effects of the Rife Beam Ray Device on Microbes".

America’s Medical Holocaust / Rife Wellness Electronics Technology Suppression and Revival

For those that were wondering, a thread on Rife was posted here on ATS back in May of 2005. The thread received little attention receiving no flags and only one star for the posting member. The posted title was in my opinion lackluster and generic (Is this information true!!!) and that was likely the reason Rife has flown under the radar here on ATS.

reply to post by Hemisphere

Sounds right to me. The Inuit are not impacted by malaria but due to their isolation they were less immune to illnesses that outsiders seemed to survive with no problem. Early man survived his particular environment or died off. We became unique to the area we inhabited due to natural selection. We are as attached to the land as we are to each other.

I think we need to approach medicine in a new way. This big pharma knows all mentality imo is causing more harm than good. While I wouldn't swallow a hookworm the fact that they might dampen down the immune system is something worth looking into.

More people are having to turn to dialysis when their miracle pills go bad. How much more harmful could a monitored hookworm treatment be? Maybe the question should be how profitable would a hookworm treatment be? Probably not very compared to profits made by big pharma, hospitals and dialysis clinics.

We can't ignore where we come from. I read about autism being on the rise. It's being suggested the male population is becoming feminized. I've got to wonder have we strayed too far away from nature for our own good? We have purposely been led to believe natural is primitive, dirty and ignorant to basically sell one product or another. Modern people do have a better quality of life but we can't deny our biology forcing our bodies into a synthesized world we weren't designed for.

Interesting thread S&F for you.

reply to post by Morningglory


I know you didn't advocate it. I apologize if my post made it sound like that or I offended you that was not my intention. I did follow the links though and here is what I came up with: the original article links to the hookworm guy's web site. Now he in turn says the CDC reccomends hookworms (no link provided). So I went to the CDC site. They do NOT recommend hookworms CDC Parasite Division on Hookworms. I didn't pursue it further after that glaring mistake.

As a side note autism may be on the rise because more autistic babies survive due to modern medicine.

Originally posted by angelx666
hulda clark died from spinal cord injury

No, they died from cancer - and the zapper did nothing for them at all... which is why it is claimed they died from "spinal cord injury"

and that quack watch and similar sites are specially designed to discredit anything 'natural' and promote pharma

free hulda clark book ' cure for all diseases' gallosegg.com...

and that site is simply to promote snake oil

Parasites are a real problem.
I got Ascaris when I was in Texas many years ago.
I developed abdominal pain and went to the Doctor. They seemed to know right away what it likely was, but required a test to verify it.
My small children also had them.
My parent had them. I likely brought them home with me from Texas.
Where we got them no one knows.
Doc. said they could be picked up on Door Handles.
I asked how I could decontaminate my house, and he said that I would have to burn it down.

We now have a Huge population of 3rd worlders who have brought their parasites with them.

I heard that if you go to Africa ,Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia- as a Tourist, you will likely come home with parasites. Like I said...Door Handles.

Yes indeed, we have a problem.
The Mexicans have brought Giardia and Cryptosporidium.

Does anyone here doubt that an electric current will kill virus & bacteria that it comes in contract with?
The frequency of that current is also important.

If you knew the Resoanant Frequency of the "bug" you are after it would be better still.
Do some research.
www.kombuchapower.com...

www.fastingconnection.com...

Most of the low cost all-round units are necessarily limited in what they can do.
A really good all round electo unit with variable frequency controls would likely cost quite a bit.

reply to post by GTORick

No biggie I wasn't offended just wanted to make myself clear. Thanks for the apology.

No I wasn't sure what to think of that guy. Just passing on what I heard. It seems he got a few people on board initially. They were not as dedicated and opted out. Actually his story was kind of funny. He certainly was a believer.

As far as your point concerning autism you're probably right. I have a mildly autistic nephew who was premature. Now 20 he has Tourettes because of his ADD/ADHD meds.

I don't know how to feel about modern medicine to be honest. On the one hand I see the good and on the other I've seen some crap. Don't know if I'd rather go out in the hands of Dr.'s or by way of some zombie ant parasite. Or worse yet they are one and the same.

I say do whatever feels right & seems to work for you. I don't put too much faith in Dr.'s. but that's just me.

reply to post by OhZone


Thanks for your input OhZOne. I did a little quick research on the Giardia and Cryptosporidium and apparently they are protozoans that can be found in water supplies around the world. Immigrating people do bring parasites with them that might not be prevalent in their destinations. You can do this by simply vacationing. There's also that old adage that when you travel to Mexico, "Don't drink the water!" That advice is linked to bacteria in the water that locals are adapted to but visiting tourists are not. And so if you drank the water you would come down with the dreaded "Motezuma's Revenge" aka traveler's diarrhea.

The most important determinant of risk is the traveler's destination. High-risk destinations are the developing countries of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Some first world countries are also deemed risky. A worldwide rating of drinking water safety is kept at Safe Water for International Travelers website. - from "Traveler's diarrhea" on Wiki

Back to the Giardia and Cryptosporidium, here's a PDF with extensive info from the World Health Organization on those organisms:

Protozoan parasites (Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Cyclospora)1

Some water filtration systems are capable of removing these parasites and their "cyst" forms from drinking water.

Here's the Wiki article on Water Purification that covers some of the methods for removing these parasites and other impurities:

Water purification

I hope you and your family have safely recovered OhZone. Thanks again!