Parasites and Allergies

Similarity of Symptoms

I have compiled common symptoms associated with parasite infection and allergy related problems. You will be surprised to see the similarity of the symptoms. Many symptoms that indicate a parasite infestation also indicate allergy problems and vice-versa as shown in the first grouping in each column below. The symptoms in the second grouping in each column don’t overlap with the other condition but can influence the other condition as if running a parallel course for both problems.

Paradise Lost in a Parallel Universe

Allergy problems have been on the rise for the last 50 years. Over 20% of the U.S. population is suffering from allergy related problems. This increase has coincided with the increase in the incidence of all chronic degenerative diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and cancer.

Asthma is the most well known potential life threatening medical condition associated with allergies. There has been a dramatic rise in morbidity and mortality from asthma for the last 50 years despite aggressive medical treatments to control the asthmatic symptoms. Allergy related symptoms are only the tip of the iceberg for more serious medical problems one is likely to encounter later.

Allergies have been associated with a whole list of symptoms including asthma, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome, ADD/ADHD, chronic sinusitis and bronchitis, canker sores, bedwetting, ear infections, dermatitis and hives, joint pain, behavioral problems and migraine headaches. This is only a partial list of allergy related symptoms.

How could it be possible for simple allergies to create so many disabling and destructive medical problems? What is a missing link between the allergy, allergy treatment and understanding the cause of the problems?

Allergies can be classified into three major categories: food allergies, non-food allergies, and environmental or chemical sensitivities. Food allergies, one of the most common yet overlooked allergies, have been associated with leaky gut, yeast and parasites. Parasites and other hidden microbes infest not only the intestinal tract but also migrate into the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, lung, stomach and every part of the organ system. As an example, night coughs and asthma have been frequently associated with Ascaris (roundworms) in the lung. Bloating, flatulence, nausea, and change in appetite have been associated with gallbladder/liver involvement from Strongyloides (parasites) or liver flukes (another form of parasites).

Allergies and parasites are intimately related from an alternative medicine perspective. Yet they seem so far apart in the conventional medical understanding of the role of parasites in allergies. Unfortunately, parasite infestations are hard to detect by the current medical tests of standard blood tests, stool ova and parasite evaluation. Most of the parasites are deeply embedded in the organs and very difficult to eradicate. They reproduce quickly and migrate to different parts of the body.

Elevated IgE or eosinophils in the blood may give a clue for parasite infection and allergy problems. I have been treating my patients for parasites based on information from the Acupuncture Meridian Assessment (described in an article on my web site). Often my patients’ allergy symptoms improve when the parasites are cleared. Some parasites may have lived in your body for over 20-30 years. They “become a part of you” by being intimately connected to whatever chronic medical conditions you have.

There can be many species of parasites infecting different parts of one’s organs at the same time. Specific treatment may be required for each parasite. In alternative medicine, some natural herbal remedies, such as wormwood, black walnut husk and clove oil, are often used for parasites. However, these are often not strong enough to eradicate the parasites which have been embedded deeply into one’s organs. These cases often require multiple high doses of pharmaceutical parasite medications such as mebendazole, albendazole, tinadazole, praziquantel, metronidazole, iodoquinole and levamisole in conjunction with herbal parasite remedies. When the patient receives the right medications for the correct dose in a proper sequence, the response can be dramatic.

Conventional medical treatments for allergy related symptoms are mainly designed to suppress the symptoms with antihistamine medications, H-1 and H-2 blockers and a variety of steroid preparations. None of these treatments correct the underlying problems. They may even create a condition for the proliferation of chronic degenerative medical conditions later in life. Allergies are very complex immune system related problems. Parasites are only one example of the causes of allergies. One should also explore for other potential problems such as environmental pollution, heavy metal toxicity, and hidden dental problems from the wrong dental materials, and unresolved emotions that trigger responses which mimic the allergic reactions. Too many people are suffering from a variety of allergy related symptoms. Conventional medical professionals are too eager to treat the symptoms with medications without recognizing the multiple, hidden, correctable causes. The only reliable proof we have for the cause and effect relationships of parasites and allergies is based on clinical observation of the improvement of allergy symptoms with properly prescribed medications for the parasite infections. Unfortunately, the connection between parasites and allergy symptoms has not been well recognized. Therefore, many people are needlessly suffering. For those sufferers, their paradise is lost in the unrecognized parallel universes of parasites and allergy symptoms.

Parasites and Mental Illness: Delusions of Parasitosis

Are you one of those people constantly worrying about parasite infestation? You are not alone. There are millions of people suffering from the “delusion” of parasites invading their body, crawling under their skin, nibbling their flesh and taking away all the nutrients from their body. Typical patients are white women over 40 and well educated with no obvious cognitive impairment or signs of psychiatric disorder. Many people are labeled with a psychiatric condition of “Delusions of Parasitosis” but are they properly diagnosed?

Most of the patients go first to their family physician and then to an array of specialists that could include:

1. An internist specializing in infectious disease
2. A parasitologist
3. Every known specialist based on their symptoms such as a dermatologist or proctologist or others, and
4. Eventually seeing psychiatrists.

Parasites are a very real problem for a very large in the U.S. and the World. For more articles on parasites and related symptoms, see my web site at www.preventionandhealing.com.

The diagnosis of “Delusions of Parasitosis” is finally confirmed when all diagnostic tests fail to support the patient’s history, condition and complaints. Patients are usually angry and hostile for being given this diagnosis. Psychotherapy is very limited. A psychiatrist may end up resorting to antipsychotic medication to control the patient’s “delusions”. Dr. Hulda Clark’s name is often mentioned for describing this recent phenomenon of diagnostic labeling of “Delusions of Parasitosis.”

Before we make any assumption on a final diagnosis of “Delusions of Parasitosis”, we need to ask, “Does conventional medicine really use the proper tools to uncover parasitic infestations?” One of their primary, if not sole, tests is a microbiology lab test. How reliable is this test? This test of routine stool evaluation for ova and parasites picks up less than 10% of active infections. There are hundreds of parasites with very complicated life cycles that can exist outside the intestinal tract. Therefore they wouldn’t be detected by this test. Many of these parasites can penetrate through skin, lung, nostril and every known organ and tissue in the body.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that 2 billion people have worms which are rarely seen in the stool exam. I believe those numbers are very conservative. I believe those numbers are limited to worms and nematodes and not inclusive of all parasitic infestations. The WHO estimates that 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from a neuropsychiatric disorder. Of the 10 leading causes of disability in 1990, four were psychiatric disorders: major depression, manic bipolar depression, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

The cause of psychiatric disorders and mental illness has been hotly debated and controversial. It has included genetics, nutrition, environmental toxins, drugs and one’s family environment. A minority of physicians and therapists believe there is overwhelming evidence that infectious agents may play a key role in causing mental illness. Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, former professor of psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, MD wrote a book, “The Invisible Plague: The Rise of Mental Illness from 1750 to the Present”. He is a big proponent of linking mental illness with infectious agents as a key cause of mental illness reaching its current epidemic proportions.

Most well known common infections capable of producing mental illness or its symptoms include syphilis, Lyme disease, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, sepsis, malaria, HIV, Legionnaires Disease, Chlamydia, typhoid fever, herpes, tapeworms, giardia, Ascaris, trichinosis, Toxoplasmosis Gondi and streptococcal infections. Some of the symptoms are transient after the acute infection and some are followed by a long protracted disabling sequence of physical and mental breakdown.

Some specific correlations have been observed. Streptococcal infection has been associated with the onset of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Toxoplasmosis Gondi has been known to cause delusions, psychosis and auditory hallucinations. Dr. Paul Fink, past president of the American Psychiatric Association, has acknowledged that Lyme disease alone has been known to mimic every known psychiatric diagnosis in the Diagnostic Symptoms Manual (DSM III). It is interesting to note that many anti-psychotic medications have anti-viral and anti-parasitic activities. Maybe these actions of the medications are the real reason for a reduction in psychotic conditions, at least in some percentage of people.

We are at a crossroads between 21st Century conventional medical science and “Alternative” medicine. Many people are suffering from psychiatric problems and receiving anti-psychiatric medications for the wrong reasons and a wrong diagnosis. Perhaps believing that medical science sponsored by pharmaceutical companies is impartial and fair is a delusion in itself. Patients suffer from the delusion of Parasitosis. Therapists suffer from the delusion of blind faith on double blind randomized medical trial studies.

Maybe there are two opposing delusions: Delusions of Parasitosis and Delusions of the Merits of Science. Perhaps Hulda Clark was right all along that parasites and all disease known to humans have intimately evolved together. It might be worth while to de-worm everybody. You could ask your Veterinarian to de-worm your cats, dogs, children and you. Or you could take a less radical approach and ask your alternative medical practitioner for parasite remedies for your “Delusions of Parasitosis.”

Parasites and Mind Control

Parasites have many definitions and different ways of affecting people. In previous articles, I have discussed parasites and their relationships to allergies, cancer and mental illness. (See my web site for those articles.) So, what are parasites? Medical text books define parasites as plants or animals which live upon or within another at whose expense it obtains some advantage. Generally, it is reserved for animal species of protozoa, helminthes and arthropods. One dictionary definition supports this view of parasite: “(1) In biology, where one organism depends upon something else for existence or support without making a useful or adequate return.” A parasite can also be a virus, bacteria, fungus, plant, or animal. However, another dictionary definition of parasite defines it in a broad context of social interaction: “(2) A person who exploits the hospitality of the rich and earns welcome by flattery.”

Following the first definition above, parasites evolved billions of years ago from the beginning when life form was evolved from the primordial organic soup of amino acids and nucleic acids. Scientists are now sequencing the full battery of genes and DNA in many microbes. They can detect the signs of the pathway that parasites have taken. Rickettsia prowazekii, a bacterium that causes typhus, has DNA which looks remarkably like the DNA in mitochondria, the organelles that provide for energy at the cellular level in humans. Somehow, about 3 billion years ago, the mitochondrial organelle evolved and fused in harmony with the eukaryotes which became plants, fungus and animals. Rickettsia evolved down the parasitic, infectious pathway to invade cells and cause disease.

Parasites have evolved to adapt to a new environment and a new host by selectively “degenerating”, i.e. eliminating, some traits and changing their anatomy over the course of their evolution. Parasites can reduce to a few essential functions for their own survival. Parasites can also castrate the host and control the sexual behavior of their hosts. They can send their hosts along destructive pathways by controlling their host’s instinctive survival behavior. Parasites are masters of chemical and biological warfare. They are masters of mind control and molecular mimicry. They have steered the course of evolution to the point where the majority of species are parasites.

There are about four thousand species of mammals but there are over five thousand species of tapeworms alone, at least which are known so far. Parasites may have pushed their hosts to become more genetically diverse. They may have caused their hosts to evolve in response to new adaptations of parasites. If the host cannot handle the parasite, the host dies and the parasite perishes with the host and ends the evolution. In this sense, the relationship of the parasite and the host are far more complex than you may have imagined. For more information read the fascinating book, “Parasite Rex” by Carl Zimmer and explore inside the bizarre world of parasites.

From the clinical point of view, parasites have been closely associated with every known disease from allergies, asthma, nutritional problems, irritable bowel syndrome, and cancer to mental illness.

Following the second dictionary definition, some animals are “social parasites.” Social parasites essentially do what any parasites do. They find the weakness in their host’s defenses and turn it to their own advantage. The cuckoo lays its eggs in the nests of other birds such as reed warblers. When a young cuckoo hatches, it proceeds to hurl reed warbler’s eggs to the ground. The reed warbler feeds the cuckoo anyway, even as it grows so large that it dwarfs its stepparent. The young cuckoo mimics the calls of many baby warblers and tricks the reed warbler to feed him. Once it is fully grown, the cuckoo flies off to find a mate, leaving the childless reed warbler behind.

In summary, parasites are one of the major driving forces behind evolution and force their hosts to adapt to new environments. Parasites influence their hosts from the DNA level on up to social interactions. Parasites can disrupt their hosts’ perception of reality to control the behavior of their hosts. In addition, the society in which we live is a macro-social organism which has its own parasites. Parasitic Mind Control is a new evolution of social engineering developing from commercial advertisements and political propaganda that try to persuade and coerce the thinking of the populace. Therefore, internal parasites and external parasites have a variety of impacts on different people depending on their experience.

Parasites, Inflammation and Cancer: Ring of Fire Feeding Tumor Cells

“Chronic inflammation” is a new catch phrase for the explanation of all chronic degenerative diseases from asthma, arthritis, heart diseases, and irritable bowel disease to cancers. Unrecognized low grade infection is one of the main culprits causing chronic inflammation. The link between infection and cancer has been recognized for many years and reported by many older medical practitioners. However, it has never been widely accepted by medical authorities due to a lack of reliable, reproducible data to support this observation – until now.

Hulda Clark, PhD, ND, the author of” Cure for All Cancers” and “Prevention of All Cancers” has been challenging the mainstream scientific and medical establishment for many years with her theory on parasites and the development of cancer. In addition, Dr. Virginia Livingston-Wheeler and Raymond Royal Rife have been advocating infectious microbes as culprits for the cause of cancer. They developed a treatment plan to eradicate infection as a first line of treatment. The 2005 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Drs. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren for their 1982 discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.

A missing link in the relationship between infection, inflammation, and cancer was finally provided by the brilliant, ground breaking research on stem cells done by Jean Marie Houghton, MD, PhD at the University of Massachusetts Medical School!. Her work, specifically related to the formation of stomach cancer and published in 2004, showed the cause and effect relationship between bacterial infection and cancer. In addition, she showed that this relationship is hidden under the disguise of chronic inflammation. Her work led to an understanding that all forms of infectious microbes, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites, can create an inflammatory immune response which, under toxic environmental conditions, can cause cancer cells to grow.

Specifically, she showed that stomach cancer originates from bone marrow-derived cells and not from stomach lining cells as expected. Bone marrow derived stem cells have “cancer-like properties.” These properties include the capacity for unlimited growth, the ability to avoid programmed cell death signals, and the capacity to develop into many tissue types. A process must occur in order for the bone marrow derived stem cells to transform into cancer. First, chronic inflammation created by a pre-existing bacterial infection, such as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), create a need for the influx of bone marrow derived stem cells to migrate to the stomach. The stem cells migrate to the stomach specifically for the repair of the stomach lining cells by actually transforming themselves into stomach cells.

Next, once the stem cells are in the stomach, they are under the undesirable influences from the inflammation itself as well as synthetic hormones, viruses, some bacteria, parasites, and environmental toxins, such as heavy metals and chemicals. These influences can cause the stem cells to transform into cancer cells rather than repairing the stomach cells. Reread these last three paragraphs. They are extremely crucial in your understanding of this process of cancer cell creation.

Some other major sources of chronic inflammation to consider include: hidden dental infections, old trauma, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, chronic allergies, over training in athletes, electromagnetic stimulation, and unresolved emotional trauma. These multiple sources of inflammation create a “ring of fire” in our body. This “ring of fire” causes our immune system to lose control which then allows cancer cells to evade our immune surveillance and proliferate. Therefore, due to the complexity of the behavior and biology of cancer cells, rather than micromanage the biochemistry of the cancer cells as in conventional treatments, our primary focus should be on detecting and eliminating the sources of inflammation. In particular, eradicating hidden infections should be one of the highest priorities for all cancer patients. Infections may come from viruses, parasites, and root canal dental infections. They can also be hidden in many different parts of organs and different layers of tissues.

Eradicating infections and inflammation should be combined with cleansing and detoxification of internal toxins and providing the nutritional support for our body to heal. Detoxification and nutritional support are the best preventive actions to reducing the cancer risk factors mentioned above. Some well known nutritional support includes: curcumin, mushroom extracts, lactoferrin, beta-glucan, vitamin C, vitamin D, bioflavonoids, green tea extracts, and Essiac tea. Most of these nutrients can reduce inflammation, slow angiogenesis and metastasis, and boost immune functions. (For more details, see the article on my web site titled “Nutritional Therapies for Cancer.”)

Current statistics claim that one out of two men and one out of three women develop cancer during their life time. For quite same time, cancer has been the second leading cause of death in the United States after heart attack and cardiovascular related disease. Cancer will become the leading cause of death soon unless we make a dramatic change in our understanding and treatment of the causes and effects of chronic inflammation.

Medical science has been focusing on molecular biology. It’s been targeting cancer cells with a “magic bullet” drug delivery system. In an ideal world, new understanding of the cause of inflammation and the “ring of fire” should shift the paradigm of medical science to a new way of diagnosing and treating infectious microbes. However, we don’t live in an ideal world and this may not be likely to occur. I am very grateful for the work of pioneers such as Drs. Virginia Livingstone-Wheeler, Jean Marie Houghton and Hulda Clark on chronic inflammation, infections, and cancer.

NOTE from CLW: With this article we introduce you to our newest member of the OIRF Board of Medical Advisors. Dr. Yu, along with his wife and partner Kate, have attended many Germany Tours. He works with the MORA Super Plus and Electronic Homeopathy. A significant part of his treatment for parasites involves the use of MORA for delivery of the remedies. It greatly reduces the number and amount of medication the patient must take, reduces or eliminates side effects and lowers the cost for the patient. Watch for more articles from Dr. Yu in future issues of The Bridge.

An Exclusive Article for Members
From THE BRIDGE Newsletter of OIRF
Published February 2008

© Copyright 2008, Dr. Simon Yu, Missouri, USA