Gastrointestinal disease parasitic

Livestock projects have focused on UK dairy, beef, sheep and pig production systems and have targeted improvements in feeding regimes and preventative health management systems (e.g. for the control of mastitis and endo-parasites and gastrointestinal diseases). 

Cautionary tales do exist, however, and public water supplies warrant vigilance even without a serious terrorist threat. The 1993 outbreak of Cryptosporidium parvum, a protozoan parasitic organism, affected some 400,000 people in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.29 Although those who had immune deficiency syndromes from various causes were most seriously affected, most recovered from the gastrointestinal disease. We are only now beginning to better understand what exactly happened, but it was almost certainly a man-made disaster, caused by sewage that spilled out into a river and subsequently drawn into the water system. Terrorists could, conceivably, deliberately contaminate water sources in this way. 

Contaminated items, including beverages, foods, water, kitchen utensils, dishes, silverware, counters and sinks, dish cloths and towels, bedding, clothing, etc. Gastrointestinal diseases, such as parasitic worms and salmonellosis (a bacterial infection which causes intestinal inflammation) are often transmitted in contaminated foods. Table D-10 summarizes various ways in which certain common diseases and parasites are spread by means of contaminated foods and water. 

Space constraints do not allow detailed discussions of the world of parasites, and clinicians and students are directed to some excellent resources for further details on parasites and parasitic diseases.1,2 Discussion in this chapter will include those parasitic diseases that are more likely to be seen in the United States and will include gastrointestinal parasites (primarily giardiasis and amebiasis), protozoan infections (malaria and South American trypanosomiasis), some common helminthic... 

Cat s claw has long been used in South America as an anti-inflammatory, antirheumatic, and contraceptive agent. It is also traditionally used to treat gastrointestinal ulcers, tumors, gonorrhea, dysentery, various skin problems, cancers of the female genitourinary tract, and intestinal disorders. Native South Americans use cat s claw to cleanse the kidneys and treat bone pain. Some Europeans report that it is useful in the treatment of AIDS when used in combination with zidovudine (AZT). The purported usefulness of cat s claw tea in the treatment of diverticulitis, hemorrhoids, peptic ulcer disease, colitis, parasites, and leaky bowel syndrome have fueled demand for the bark in the U.S. 

Eosinophils are leukocytes that contain characteristic cationic proteins in their granules that bind the acidic dye eosin. In contrast to neutrophils, eosinophils are minority cells in the blood and are predominantly tissue-dwelling cells found at sites in contact with the environment the mucosal surfaces of the lung, gastrointestinal tract, and genitourinary tract. Selective accumulation of eosinophils, as opposed to neutrophils, is one of the major pathological features of the inflammatory response to infection with parasitic helminths, and in several diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. A key step in leukocyte recruitment is the local production of chemoattractant molecules that orchestrate the adhesive interactions between leukocytes and the vascular endothelium. 

Several picrotoxane-containing plants are used in traditional medicines. Cor-iaria species play an important role in Chinese traditional medicine, notably against mental diseases. Coriaria nepalensis is used against numbness, toothache, traumatic injury, and conjunctivitis (252). In the traditional medicine of Taiwan, gastrointestinal disturbances, rheumatism, and uterine cancer are treated with extracts of Coriaria intermedia (255). C. sinica is used for treatment of schizophrenia (29), and extracts of the parasitic plant on C. nepalensis, L. parasiticus, were used as shock therapy in schizophrenia (27). Okuda et al. point to corianin (21) as the main active component (27). 

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis after enalapril has been described (13). The authors briefly reviewed this rare condition, which is diagnosed on the basis of the presence of gastrointestinal sjmiptoms, eosinophilic infiltration of the gastrointestinal tract, and the absence of parasitic or extra-intestinal disease. It has also been reported after clofazimine and naproxen. 

Parasitic diseases are caused by the invasion of humans and animals by several species of protozoans and helminths. The pathogenic protozoans may invade the blood circulation, liver, spleen, or external organs such as mouth, gastrointestinal tract and vagina. A major population of the helminths,on the other hand, parasitize the gastrointestinal tract while some live in the blood circulation, lymphatics, connective and subcutaneous tissues, eyes, lungs, and liver. Most of the extra-intesti-... 

Because of its worldwide distribution and serious gastrointestinal manifestations, amebiasis is one of the most important parasitic diseases of humans. " "" The major causative organism in amebiasis is Entamoeba histolytica, which inhabits the colon and must be differentiated from the E. dispar, which is associated with an asymptomatic carrier state and is considered nonpathogenic. Although E. histolytica and E. dispar are indistinguishable morphologically, recent research... 

Helminths constitute a major health problem in humans and domestic animals, especially in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. They are classified in two phyla the flatworms (Platyhelminthes), comprising the flukes (or trematodes) and the tapeworms (or cestode), and the roundworms or nematodes (Nemathelminthes). Most nematodes are not parasitic, but some infect vertebrates by entering the digestive tracts of animals where they develop into adults. Diseases caused by infection are dependent on the residence site of the adult nematode the gastrointestinal tract or body tissues. 

The most frequent sources of germs causing infections and parasitic diseases are animal wastes. Therefore, when evaluating water quality it is important to determine if the water is contaminated by faeces. If so, it is possible to determine various microorganisms from the gastrointestinal tract of animals or man, as well as various organic and inorganic substances present in faeces, or products of their biochemical transformations [23-26]. 

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