Hello All, This is a very sensitive subject, but one that I believe needs to be addressed. Do we get worms and parasites from our farm animals and if we do what should we do about it? It makes sense that we do pick up alot of things from our animals. I have been doing alot of reading on the subject and it is all very intense. In Europe they worm regularly, what about us? What do any of you do? I am going to the Dr. on Friday to ask this ??? of him. I would like to see us find a SAFE wormer to do on a regular basis that is safe for the kids also. The kids the most because they run around barefoot the most. What do you think? Karole (mother of 3 busy boys)

-- Karole (Biz3boymom@aol.com), April 18, 2001

Answers

That is a good question, and one I've always wondered about. I'm soooo skinny!! Maybe when I worm the goats I should just drink the milk instead of giving it to the dogs for a day! Anyway, there's a thread were we all talked about it a while ago. They got the pills at the health food store. Apple Cider vinegar is good for you every day, keeps the parasites out I've heard, a couple Tlbs. in water. I give the animals AC vinegar in their water, they drink allot more. I have read somewhere that onions boiled in milk will worm you, but haven't been brave enough to try. I worry most about the cats, I think. I've been giving them DE in their food every day, along with the other wormer. I'll be looking forward to some more answers here.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), April 18, 2001.

black walnut hulls are supposed to be a good thing to take if internal parasites ar a problem. I have read a description, but basically you make your own tincture using vodka and black walnut hulls and let it steep for a time.

Also you can eat raw pumpkin seeds.

Sarah keep fingernail short and hands washed well! Also need to watch for problems with pinkeye-with sheep and goats who carry this frequently- you need to be careful about handwashing and keeping hands away from your face!

-- Sarah (heartsongacres@juno.com), April 18, 2001.

I too think we need to be wormed, just in case. It can be done easily with black walnut hull tincture. You can buy it at a health food store, it comes in a tasteless tincture, you take 15-30 drops up to 3 times a day for up to 3 days. Wait until the full moon to be really effective (seriously). Other natural wormers (work on you animals too if you want to go natural) are cloves, garlic, raw carrots, wormwood, pumpkin seeds, fennel, tobacco, mustard, gentian, and southernwood.

Pinworms can be re-injested by biting your nails, gross huh?

-- Julie (julieamc@excite.com), April 18, 2001.

I would imagine that prevention is the best cure. Wash hands well, wear gloves, wear shoes, keep hands from mouth or other mucous membranes, keep barn shoes out of the house. Cleanliness prevents worms in humans. Of course, with children it is hard to be vigliant because they do love to dig in dirt and put their hands in their mouths.

As for human worming remedies, herbally Black Walnut is supposed to be effective, as others here have mentioned. Wormwood is another remedy, but it's very bitter and you need to use it with care because it can be toxic. Garlic is another good vermifuge.

-- amy (acook@in4web.com), April 18, 2001.

Just one thing I didn't see mentioned. Don't let Fido lick you on the lips, and be careful that the kids don't share their food with Fang. You can get FATAL infestations of worms which invade various organs, if Spot has been eating dog shit which is infested. (Yeah, I know, YOUR dog wouldn't do something that gross)!

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), April 18, 2001.

Animal parasites infecting people happens all the time, but some versions can be particularly bad news. Hydatid infection from dogs can end up with humans growing hydatid cysts up to the size of a basketball internally, and you never really know where they'll end up - abdomen is bad, brain is disastrous. This is not an area where I'd take chances on an organic remedy being good enough - whatever remedy I used (animal and human), I'd make very sure - veterinary advice - that it was guaranteed going to do the job.

It is also possible - I learnt as a child - to inculcate habits that mean children ALWAYS wash their hands after contacting dogs or cats, before their hands get anywhere near their mouths. Just explain why (preserved vet samples of worms could help), then NEVER let up - always insist on it.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), April 18, 2001.

This list is the only place I've ever heard of such a thing! BTW, black walnut is very toxic to horses, are you sure that's what you want to take? Maybe you should sprinkle some food grade Diatomaceous Earth on your food! -G-

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), April 19, 2001.

I found a very good page about this:

http://www.herbalhealer.com/parasites.html

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), April 19, 2001.

Here's another good one, taken twice a year for 3 wks each time.

http://innercleanse.com

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), April 19, 2001.

I grew up on a farm. I remember my Granny giving us chewable pills for worms at least once a year. We ran around barefoot all the time and she was always telling me not to go in the chicken coop barefoot (I never listened but she told me anyhow). She said I'd get 'wormy'. I have no clue if this is true or not. However we made it to adulthood so I'd say that the wormer isn't a bad idea. If I'm not mistaken you can buy the pills without a prescription at most pharmacies.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), April 20, 2001.

How about instead of ingesting a bunch of toxic substances (tobacco, wormwood, etc.) just because you think you MIGHT have worms, you go to a doctor and have them do a fecal survey and find out what, if anything, is actually floating around in there. If there is something there and you want to eat tobacco instead of the Flagyl he'll probably give you, then knock yourself out (not literally, hopefully).

-- Steve - TX (steve.beckman@compaq.com), April 20, 2001.

When we were kids, we used to get pinworms regularly. Mom just made us a blitzkreig sandwich of multigrain bread (lots of seeds and hulls for that freshly scoured bowel), loaded up with horseradish mustard and onion slices, the hotter the better. Believe it or not, its one of my favorite sandwiches to this day, although DH will not speak to me after I partake ;). Seemed to work like a charm (I can't imagine anything would hang around for more of that treatment!)

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), April 20, 2001.

I have known raw potato peelings to work on dogs. Seems like that wouldn't be something toxic to try. We eat sliced raw potato with a sprinke of salt. Just try the scrubbed peeling the same way.

-- Cora-Vee Caswell (coravee@locl.net), April 21, 2001.

One complication of running bare foot in pastures used to graze cattle or contain hogs is encountering hookworm larva. They penetrate the skin and begin a journey of migration through the lungs, are coughed up and swallowed, then become estabished in the gut. This used to be an endemic problem in the south a couple of generations ago when animals were fed anything containing remnants of other animals and swill. Kids usually ran barefoot all summer. Today I really don't know what the rate of occurrence is. But regardless, its a good idea to wear proper footwear anywhere animals are currently or have been enclosed.

-- DWIGHT (SUMMIT1762@AOL.COM), April 24, 2001.

Hi,

I just found this thread by looking on Google for info on parasites. Lots of good suggestions here. One thing that it is important to know is that no one treatment will zap all of the critters. Parasites are extremely adaptable. Black Walnut hull tincture will work for awhile, but eventually a person will want to switch. Pumpkin seeds, clove, neem, artemesia, garlic, ginger, and a whole host of other natural remedies will serve you nicely, and there are a slew of Chinese and Indian herbs out there that are very powerful. Many health-food stores carry anti-parasitic herbal remedies, but even these would be good to rotate. For pets, there is a catalog called "PetSage" that has a number of herbal remedies for animals. Those work very well and often have visible results!

Taking anti-parasitic drugs is a good idea for many people, if prescribed, but it's darn hard to get parasites diagnosed sometimes. Stool sample testing is definitely NOT foolproof! A long-standing infection will often mean that the parasites are well-buried in the colon walls, and they won't come out so easily! Many parasites don't bother restricting themselves to the colon anyway, and they will migrate to just about anyplace in the body that they find hospitable.

Antibody tests are better, but even they aren't perfect. In addition, no matter what a doctor might tell you, drugs don't necessarily kill every stage of a parasite. A lot of critters keep themselves in very sturdy cysts that will only erupt when conditions are right (which won't be when there are anti-parasitic drugs in the bloodstream!).

Parasites are very, very common in the US, regardless of what popular wisdom might say. People pick them up all over the place, including salad bars. In addition to thorough sanitary and hygenic practices-- ideally--people should also soak all of their food (particularly produce)in water with citrus seed extract (this is ideal), bleach solution(works, but seems awfully harsh and potentially dangerous), or some other substances that are good for this kind of thing (but which escape me at the moment). Also, international travellers bring all kinds of bugs home, whether they realize it or not, and those can certainly spread! And then, as was mentioned already, are the animals in our lives.

Also, I've heard plenty of people wonder why we shouldn't just live with the critters, since that's what we've been doing for eons anyways. This is true, but the word "parasite" means that the critter is doing the host absolutely no good at all. It is not a symbiotic or commensal relationship. It is a relationship where one creature (the parasite) is living at another creature's (your) expense! Many of them feed on blood, for example, and lots of them commandeer the body's internal chemistry to suit their own purposes. In addition, parasites release their own toxic wastes, including ammonia. These wastes poison the body and cause a lot of pain, weakness, pH problems, and other issues. My personal belief is that many cases of obesity, food allergies, anemia, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and a lot of other "modern" ailments have a lot more to do with parasites than most people would care to realize!

There are also at least a couple of good books for the layperson that I've found on parasites. One is called "Guess What Came to Dinner," by Anne Louise Gittleman. This is an excellent introduction to the problem of parasites and how to go about treating them. Another fascinating book that I recently found is "Parasite Rex," by Carl Zimmer. This is a pretty gross book, but it's really interesting, and it really gives great insight into the devastation that parasites can cause.

It really is a good idea to talk to your doctor or naturopath about parasites when you embark on a treatment program. Don't be surprised if a lot of them aren't too supportive! Just use your best judgement. Very few of the anti-parasitic herbs are dangerous in proper amounts, so a person could try treating themselves over-the- counter. If the herbs are working, "die-off" symptoms can be common and should be expected. These include fatigue, nausea, body aches,headaches, diarrhea, and some other things. No, these are definitely not fun, but they are often part of the picture, and they DO go away once the parasite treatment is suspended. Making sure that you take plenty of high-quality Pure Form amino acids (to neutralize ammonia), and good doses of fiber, pectin, and other things (to sop up toxins and keep the bowels regular) will help a lot.

Lastly, the reason I seem to have so much to say about this is because I've experienced all of this over the last few years. I went to Central America and came home with dysentery and some other problems. The dysentery took 3 years to diagnose, and my own treatment with drugs didn't ultimately bring back the health I knew I deserved. It has taken a lot of research and experimentation with treatments far left of Western Medicine to get me to where I am today. If any of you are truly interested in helping yourselves and your loved ones out in this regard, I hope you find this information helpful.

-- Deanna Bredthauer (dbredthauer@aol.com), August 10, 2001.

Deanna, thank you very much for the thought provoking post. It give me one more hope for finding out why my energy level has been flagging for many years. I did get a stool test, more because of runs than anything else, after getting the Aztec two step, back in 1980.

That problem went on for maybe six or eight years. Then I figured out the problem was that, by not drinking milk for the whole time I was in Latin America, I'd lost the ability to digest lactase. I quit drinking milk, and VOILA', no more runs. Damned near a miracle, in my opinion. This after all KINDS of tests.

So maybe there are some little creepy crawlers taking all the energy out of my food. I wonder.

My doc wanted me to do a coloscopy recently, just because of my age. I chickened out. Maybe I'll reconsider, and have them take a look around for parasites while they are looking for polyps..

Thanks!

JOJ

By the way, if a resident of Dallas is a Dallasite, what is a resident of Paris called?

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), August 10, 2001.

To find out about what and how parasites infect humans go to www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/ and click on the link about parasites. I found out tings I had wondered about for years and some things I'd rather not know.

-- Tracey Burnash (burnash@gisco.net), August 10, 2001.

This is one of the reasons I don't let my kids go barefoot anywhere. The other main reason is to lessen the chance of an injury. Regarding black walnut hulls, they make a good topical antiseptic also since it contains organic iodine.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), August 10, 2001.

A resident of Paris is called a Parisian.

-- Coco Joe (something@someone.com), August 20, 2001.