Parasites and Parasitic diseases

Paul Reller, L.Ac.

Parasites and parasitic disease has been a problem for humans since the dawn of civilization. Adaptation to local parasites often protects us from the adverse health effects and stimulates effective adaptive and humoral immune responses. Travel increases the threat that parasitic organisms will infect and that our immune systems will not have an adequate response. Increased stress and ill health of the protective membranes in our body, especially in the gastrointestinal system, is also a major concern with parasitic infection. While we have been led to believe that parasites are large organisms, such as worms, the fact is that most parasites are microbial, or very small. The greatest threat to health worldwide is parasitic infection, with such diseases as malaria, tuberculosis, Lymes disease, typhus, dengue, scabies, giardia infection, lice, toxoplasmosis, and even some viral and retroviral diseases listed as parasitic diseases. Tuberculosis and Malaria have been the leading causes of death from disease worldwide for a number of years. The main types of human parasites are protozoa (single cell microscopic organisms, such as giardias, amoebas, and sporozoans), helminths (worms), and ectoparasites (ticks, lice, fleas, mites), but the complete list includes parasitic bacteria, fungi, and even viruses. Globalization and the increase in world travel and migration have increased the risks of parasitic disease, but an overlooked threat to this growing health problem is environmental, as large animal feedlots breed parasitic colonies that empty into our water supplies and contaminate our crops, increased global trade brings parasites from distant crops to our shores, and a stressed ecosystem struggles to find natural protection from the growth and spread of parasites.

How prevalent are parasitic diseases? Since a majority of parasitic infections do not create a serious health threat, they are largely ignored. Yet, increasingly, research is identifying parasitic disease as a major cause of many common health problems. By now, most of us have heard of the prevelance of Candidiasis and Lymes disease, and many more are alarmed at the rise in tuberculosis, especially the drug-resistant types. Giardias, once thought to be the realm of infection by persons camping and drinking water contaminated by the wastes from wild animals, is now shown to be a prevalent problem in cities in developed countries, as the practice of large feedlot animal production has generated a large growth of the giardias in feedlot animals, which is then spread to the water supplies via poorly treated waste. The spread of parasites via blood transfusions is also a growing concern of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with inadequate clearing and testing accounting for a spread of various tick-borne disease parasites not previously acknowledged. In essence, since the realm of parasitic microbes and disease is so varied, parasitic disease may be a very prevalent occurrence. The ignoring of this health problem continues to be a major health conundrum that has persisted for many centuries.

When looking at the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) set up by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is used by all physicians in the United States, we see, even in the ICD-9 version, a wide variety of diseases under this classification (001-139) of parasitic. This list includes intestinal diseases such as Salmonella, Shigellosis, Amoebiasis, protozoal intestinal diseases (Giardiasis, Trichomoniasis et al), viral intestinal diseases related to parasitic organisms (rotavirus enteritis), and ill-defined intestinal diseases such as colitis enteritis. The list also includes a variety of Tuberculosis disease manifestations, zoonotic bacterial diseases (Brucellosis, Anthrax, Listeriosis), other bacterial diseases (Mycobacteria diseases such as “Walking pneumonia”, Diptheria, Streptococcal sore throat, Tetanus), HIV, Poliomyelitis and other non-arthropod-borne viral diseases of the central nervous system (meningitis due to enterovirus, slow virus infection of the CNS, Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, commonly called “Mad cow”), viral diseases accompanied by exanthem (widespread rash) (Chickenpox, postvaricella encephalitis or myelitis, Herpes zoster (shingles), herpes simplex, measles), arthropod-borne viral diseases (Yellow fever, Dengue fever, Tick-borne viral encephalitis, West Nile), Rickettsiosis and other arthropod-borne diseases (Malaria, Lyme disease), Syphilis and other venereal diseases (Reiters disease, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, gonococcal conjunctivitis), Spirochete diseases, Mycoses (tinea, histoplasmosis), Helminthiases (intestinal parasites), other parasitic diseases (scabies, lice, sarcoidosis), and late effects of parasitic diseases (Tuberculosis late effects, Polio late effects, Post-Lyme’s disease syndromes). Even HIV (human immunodeficiency virus, or retrovirus) is considered a parasitic disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated in a 2000 report on world iron deficiency and iron homestasis pathologies such as iron overload toxicity: “Other actions that affect iron status include: parasitic disease control programmes, in particular those directed to hookworm, shistosomiasis and malaria control; these programmes can enhance effectiveness in a population with moderate to severe levels of infection.” This acknowledgement that parasitic disease has broad implications for world health is perhaps a beginning to world awareness.

Not only the acute parasitic pathology, but a variety of chronic pathologies, many of which elude diagnosis, such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Post-Lyme Disease Syndrome, as well as functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, may be linked to parasitic disease. Increasing attention is being paid to Giardia, and a number of studies worldwide now show that Giardia infection is common in the modern urban population, attributed both to increased travel and globalization, as well as contamination of water supplies with modern farming methods with feedlot animals, and the overuse of antibiotics in dense concentrations of food animals. Studies of Giardiasis in Norway, published in 2012, at the Institute of Clinical Medicine of Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway, followed 1262 patients after a large commununity outbreak with Giardia lamblia gastroenteritis, and found that 5 percent of these patients developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (PMID: 22316329). Of 96 patients with long-lasting post-infectious fatigue after giardiasis, 60 percent were eventually diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The Department of Public Health, and the University of Bergen, Norway, also had conducted a long-term study of patients afflicted with Giardia lamblia infection, and concluded that “infection with Giardia lamblia in a non-endemic area was associated with a high prevalence of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and chronic fatigue 3 years after acute illness, and the risk (for CFS and IBS) was significantly higher than in the control group.” These experts stated that Giardia lamblia is a common cause of gastroenteritis worldwide, and the potential consequences of giardiasis are more serious than previously known (PMID: 21911849). Many elusive chronic diseases could be attributed to parasitic disease.

One example of the extent of parasitic infection in the general population is found in a 2002 study report from the Minnesota Department of Health. In 1999, 2,545 refugees arriving in Minnesota were tested for three types of parasitic disease, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and various intestinal parasitic overgrowths. The results showed that 49 percent had a reactive TB test, 7 percent tested positive for Hepatitis B viral infection with antigen, and 22 percent tested positive for one or more intestinal parasites, the most common being giardias and trichuriasis. This single test shows that in a representative subset of persons arriving from across the planet, that parasitic disease is very prevalent. Granted, the refugee population is more exposed to these infections than a stable population, but such a group also spreads the parasitic diseases to a stable population. What is probably more prevalent, though, is the spread of parasites from animals to humans. Tests in Japan in recent years have found a high percentage of pet dogs with giardias and other parasites. The spread of parasites from mosquitos, ticks and other insects that feed off of the blood of humans is very prevalent, and is not limited to remote areas. The spread of parasites in the waste of feedlot animals is a certain threat. Granted, the scientific data on crossinfection of parasitic disease from animals to humans is not complete or definitive. Nevertheless, this threat to our health is being increasingly studied, implying that the scientific community does consider this a probable health problem of much concern.

The public is becoming concerned, and looking for ways to treat this problem of parasitic disease, especially when chronic inexplicable gastrointestinal symptoms persist, as well as other difficult diseases that may be related to parasitic infection. Traditional Chinese Medicine has long addressed this complex subject of parasitic disease, though, and many of the most famous physicians in Chinese history have written extensively on the subject of parasitic aspects to disease. In early Chinese history this was referred to as Gu Zheng and Gu Du, loosely translated as parasitic syndromes and parasitic toxins or antigens. The word Gu, though, is no longer a useful term in modern Chinese language, and this has created confusion. Historians have repeatedly come across the term in ancient texts, and have mistakenly referred to it as a reference to a legendary insect or evil spirit. Now, language characters in China often have many different potential meanings, depending on the context of the usage, but the medical use of the word Gu seems to have been ignored, although the term is found primarily in medical texts. In this context, the word, and these terms, clearly imply reference to parasitic disease. Large classes of medicinal herbs are devoted to treating Gu Zheng and Gu Du, dating to the early history of Chinese medicine with the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, a comprehensive herbal text dating to about 500 BC. Even in modern research, the medical treatises written by such important personages as Ge Hong, of the fourth century, have been referenced to find herbs to treat such parasitic diseases as malaria.

A 2010 Lasker Award for clinical medical research (the American equivalent to the Nobel) was awarded to the former head of the Beijing Institute of Chinese Materia Medica (medical herbalism), Dr. Tu Youyou, who referenced Ge Hong and other ancient herbal treatises to discover the remarkable herbal cure for malaria that has since been endorsed by the World Health Organization as the primary medicine to treat malaria, and is responsible for malaria being reduced from the number one cause of deaths from disease worldwide. The Nobel committee is exploring a Nobel Prize for Medicine to one or more of the researchers of Chinese Herbal Medicine that originally identified the action of the main chemical constituent of the herb Qing hao, artemisin.

Artemesia Qing hao is just one of the many herbs used to treat parasitic disease in the Chinese Materia Medica, and further research has discovered that other chemicals also act to clear the human organism of parasitic microbial infection. Formulas of herbs, which often include Qing hao, are thus useful to clear both acute and chronic parasitic health problems. Matching the correct herb or herbs to the specific parasite or parasites is the challenge. Fortunately, in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) a holistic course is used, where the physician utilizes a formula of herbs, and even food chemicals and acupuncture, to create a more comprehensive and effective treatment protocol. While a real test to identify the array of parasites that may be contributing to inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome or other function gastrointestinal disease, or other chronic or acute parasitic illnesses of the respiratory tract, and even the nervous system, immune system, and various organ dysfunctions, may not be possible, the safe, thorough and effective treatment in TCM may effectively rid these various parasitic overgrowths and help cure the disease. Since many microbial parasites are difficult to test for, especially when disseminated throughout the body, and since they may be so small, and live within deep tissue cells in the body, we may never obtain a reasonably priced and effective comprehensive testing protocol for parasites. Nevertheless, TCM allows us to treat without side effects when a parasitic problem is suspected, and the comprehensive and holistic nature of the treatment protocol addressed a wide variety of common parasites, not a single organism, as in allopathic medicine. This comprehensive protocol is the sensible approach.

Other Chinese herbs that effectively treat malaria, and other parasitic diseases, have also now been studied and found to be surprisingly effective. One such herb was cited in the now famous novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie, which chronicles a fictionalized coming of age in the cultural revolution. In this novel, a rural seamstress’ daughter cures the protagonist of malaria by harvesting a wild herb called “broken bowl shards”, and decocting an herbal medicine. This herb is most assuredly the Chinese herb Shu qi, or Dichroa febrifuga, since the herb appearance is described in the novel as broad leaves with tiny pink flowers. Studies of the chemicals in Dichroa febrifuga (i.e. febrifugine) have revealed that there is a dose-dependent effectiveness for relief of malaria of nearly 100 percent (Bioorganic Medical Chemistry 2012; Jan 15;20(2): 927-932). The root of this same herb is called Chang shan, which is also now proven effective as an antimalarial herb, although not as effective as the leaves. The study of the specific chemicals of this herb has provided the pharmaceutical field with new biologic antimalarials as well, just as the quinine herbs provided the original set of antimalarial pharmaceuticals still in use today. Not only are Chinese herbs shown to be surprisingly safe and effective, but they continue to provide the field of medical research with valuable resources to develop new drugs. As always, use of these herbs should be part of prescription by a professional herbalist, or Licensed Acupuncturist and herbalist, as correct use, dosage, quality of the herb, and even ameliorating slight toxicity is important, and these aspects of herbalism are part of the education and training in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The science of herbal formulary and preparation insures a safe and effective use of these herbal cures.

Parasites, whether microbial or larger, may develop methods to evade specific chemicals, evolving resistance strains. The fact that there are so many herbs that are effective, and so many chemicals in a single herb, provide great protection against this acquired resistance to therapy. The herbs that have evolved effective chemicals to kill parasites, or contain them, have also had time to evolve mechanisms that make acquired resistance more difficult, utilizing an array of symbiotic chemicals in the plant. There is no better laboratory to evolve complex mechanisms such as this than nature itself, as the parasites and the plants have thousands of years of natural selection to develop these protective mechanisms. Herbal medicine presents much potential to treat a wide variety of parasitic diseases without fear of a developing resistance nullifying all therapy.

Not only the vast array of professional herbal products and nutrient medicines, but also acupuncture, has been now proven to effect the immune modulation to aid in the host responses to parasitice infection, and to help maintain homeostatic balance when parasites infect chronically and alter the host responses. Some of the numerous studies proving these effects are cited below. The TCM physician is able to combine a variety of effective treatments to provide a comprehensive protocol in all aspects of disease suspected to be associated with parasitic infection, whether this is an acute infection, or a chronic infection suspected of contributing to an array of other diseases.

Pathologies related to Lectins and Parasites

Pathogens, such as parasites, viruses, bacteria and fungi have adapted to our immune defenses, causing problems for many people. One type of adaptation involves the interaction of lectins, sometimes called “sticky proteins”, with these various parasitic organisms. Lectin excess has also been implicated in many disease processes, not only digestive dysfunction, but when the lectins are able to leak into the bloodstream, systemic health problems, including immune hyperreactivity and autoimmune disorders. Lectins are proteins that come in a wide variety of forms, and are found in most foods. Both plants and animals create lectin proteins to utilize in the immune responses, attaching to invading microbes and parasites, and stopping them from infecting host cells. When we eat these lectin proteins, they may be both beneficial and harmful. Most lectins are very difficult to break down and are eliminated via the feces, often carrying unwanted microbial parasites with them. Unfortunately, modern foods often have high protein contents, such as high gluten flours, gluten thickeners, etc., as well as genetically altered proteins, creating excesses of lectin proteins, and difficulty eliminating them. When problems of the gastrointestinal tract occur, as in irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease (IBS and IBD), the excess lectins may also leak from the gut to the bloodstream. It is believed that the pathophysiology associated with excess lectins, the immunology of lectins, and lectins used by parasites to evade immune defenses could explain many cases of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and functional GI disorders that appear to be celiac disease and gluten intolerance, but show no laboratory evidence of these diseases.

The C-type lectins recognize carbohydrates on the membranes of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites, sticking to them and creating immune responses. Studies have found that C-type lectins are expressed by macrophages and dendritic cells, immune cells involved in early responses to antigens and pathogens. Specialized C-type lectins play an important role in immune responses. Both macrophages and dendritic cells are involved in allergy and autoimmune responses. Various C-type lectins (langerin, dectin-1) may recognize pathogens and trigger immune cytokine responses, especially T-helper cell (Th), and the parasitic microbes have adapted to our immune systems by expressing C-type lectins of their own that subvert these immune responses. HIV, candida, and mycobacterial infections (e.g. walking pneumonia) have utilized these C-type lectins to evade immune responses, and often these will lead to immune dysfunctions, such as imbalance of T-helper cell types, associated with many autoimmune disorders.

One model of chronic parasitic gram-negative bacterial infections is Shigella, which is only naturally found in primates (i.e. humans and apes). An acute infection will result in dysentery, an inflammatory disorder of the intestines, especially the colon, with severe diarrhea, sometimes complicated with bleeding or excess mucus. The World Health Organization has estimated that 80 million cases of acute Shigellosis occur annually in the world, with 700,000 deaths. Milder forms of Shigella infection are usually undiagnosed, though. Shigella is adept at repeating the steps necessary for parasitic bacterial growth, causing inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, but affecting the innate immune responses enough to linger and achieve a repeat of the epithelial invasion. The ability to utilize lectins to evade the innate immune responses may be one way that adapted Shigella is presenting increased incidence. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on the bacterial membrane, and peptidoglycans, are major components of the virulence of Shigella, and these bacteria are evolving ways to evade the normal innate immune responses that utilize lectins. Shigella has been found to induce limited cytokine response, or adaptive immune responses, and TNF-alpha, a prime cytokine overexpressed in many chronic inflammatory diseases and autoimmune disorders, is often the only cytokine induced by Shigella. As we progress with scientific study, the possibility that many chronic and difficult diseases are related to such parasitic overgrowths become more real.

When microbial parasites present a problem for the host, the use of such lectins to evade immune responses may both cause immune dysfunctions, allow parasites to evade defenses, and contribute to other lectin pathologies in the body. This may complicate the disease presentation, creating a confusing array of symptoms that are often indirectly associated with the parasitic infections. To aid the immune system in clearing lectins from the intestinal tract, and thus improving the efficiency of this aspect of our innate immune response, research has led us to find various chemicals that lock onto problematic lectins and aid clearance through the intestine. N-actyl glucosamine, Bladderwrack (Fucus versiculosus), okra, D-mannose, mucin, and sodium alginate are some of the studied chemicals that help improve the lectin clearance.

A holistic protocol is now found to be the best treatment to reduce common parsitic diseases

To effectively reduce parasitic overgrowth and imbalance in the body, a holistic protocol is found to produce the best overall results. Since parasites are common in the environment, our bodies have adapted host defenses to protect us. When this homeostatic protective mechanism becomes dysfunctional, parasitic disease is likely to occur. The defenses involve regulation of acidity (pH), balance of symbiotic microbial biota (re: probiotic), digestive function (re: enzymes), health of the intestinal membrane, ability to clear lectins, healthy digestive and elimination function, and overall immune health. A protocol that improves the diet in specific and individually tailored ways, restores gastrointestinal function and the biota, improves membrane immune responses, and helps the immune system to respond better to pathological parasitic overgrowth with herbal chemicals is highly recommended to clear and maintain the defenses against parasitic disease. Use of harsh antibiotics and antifungals may temporarily clear certain microbial parasites, but the damage to the GI system, biota and overall immune defenses often results in increased susceptibility to future parasitic pathology.

The array of herbal and nutrient chemicals now studied and proven effective in the treatment of parastitic pathology is expansive. The problem is not a lack of choice, but too much choice. This is why a research, or evidence-based, Complementary Medicine physician, such as a knowledgable Licensed Acupuncturist and herbalist, is important in the choice of the correct protocol for the individual patient, and why testing and objective data are useful to guide therapy. Integrating the testing and diagnosis of standard medicine and the treatment protocols of Complementary Medicine is the ticket for success. Even when the testing in standard medicine fails to identify the specific parasites that may be suspected, a broad protocol in Traditional Chinese Medicine may still be effective to clear these difficult diseases.

Viral parasites and common diseases

Standard medicine does not have effective treatment strategies for viral illnesses. The use of antibiotics has been widespread for decades despite the fact that antibiotics are only effective for bacterial illnesses. On the other hand, much scientific study has confirmed the efficacy of herbal medicine to clear viral infection and treat the diverse effects of viral illness. Viral parasites are common, but rarely discussed. Intestinal rotavirus is a common cause of childhood diarrhea, often manifesting as recurrent, or sporadic bouts with persistent diarrhea. While standard medicine has little or nothing to offer parents to treat this problem, some very gentle herbal medicines have been proven effective, such as Citrus aurantium (Zhi shi), with the active chemicals herpsridin and neohesperidin (see study link below). Studies in Brazil have shown that another commonly used Chinese herb, Myristica fragrans (Rou dou kou), a type of nutmeg, is also effective to treat rotavirus diarrhea in infants, as well as jackfruit, or Artocarpus integrifolia, a type of mulberry. The effective dosage of these herbal decoctions for infants is very low, and such safe and effective medicines have been added to mother’s milk to effectively treat viral parasitic illness for centuries. Proof of efficacy is now available.

A March 20, 2012 article in the New York Times Science Times, entitled Gut Infections Are Growing More Lethal, revealed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report that stated that deaths from gastrointestinal infections more than doubled from 1999 to 2007, to more than 17,000 per year, with two thirds of these deaths attributed to Clostridium difficile, linked to overuse of antibiotics, and antibiotic resistant strains, but the second largest cause of death from gastrointestinal parasites attributed to Norovirus. The sharp rise in norovirus gastroenteritis, to about 20 million Americans each year, and the increasing number of fatalities among the elderly (83 percent of those who died of gastrointestinal infections were over age 65), points to a growing crisis in the United States. Patients taking an antibiotic course had a 7 to 10 times increased risk of contracting Clostridium difficile bacterial parasitic infection, and the increasing damage to the Biota, or protective symbiotic bacterial colony, accounted for much of the rise in Norovirus parsitic gastroenteritis. Attempts to utilize a Norovirus vaccine may fail due to the adaptation of the Noroviral family and emerging new strains. Studies in 2012 (cited below), at the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, revealed that Chinese gall (Wu bei zi) and pomegranate extract, significantly inhibited Norovirus gastroenteritis.

Cold sores, herpes, chickenpox, and shingles represent viral parasitic infections that are common and well known. The varicellar, or herpes family of viruses, involved in these infections, have been routinely treated with acyclovir, ganciclovir and foscarnet, and perhaps overtreated, as by 2008 an emerging drug-resistance in many strains of these viruses had emerged worldwide. Research has found that a number of common Chinese herbs are effective against these viruses, retroviruses, and their expression, inhibiting viral attachment to cell surface (see study links below). An alcohol tincture of Rheum officianalis (Da huang), Paeonia suffruticosa (Mu dan pi), and Melia toosendan (Ku lian pi and Chuan lian zi) was found to be very effective to prevent viral attachment and cell penetration, as well as water decoction of Sophora flavescens (Ku shen).

Information Resources

Numerous studies worldwide now find that intestinal parasitic infection is still an important and overlooked health problem: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22198917
Small studies in Europe reveal that the prevalence of parasites in gastrointestinal disease is underestimated. Here, a review of medical records of patients in France that underwent appendectomy found that 3.3 percent of these patients showed a parasitic infection leading to appendicitis: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22235628
A study at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, found that in 2011 a number of studies have proven that the Biota, or our commensal symbiotic intestinal microbes (re: probiotic), play a major role in the host immune defenses, metabolism and tissue development. The Biota supports both the innate and adaptive immune responses, and an unhealthy biota may lead to parasitic disease and parasitic contributions to such diseases as Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Inflammatory Bowel Disease: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22178452
To examine the prevalence of Giardia in domestic cats, a study in Poland examined 160 stool samples and found that 1 of the 7 types of Giardia, genotype G, was detected as cysts in 3.75 percent of samples. This is just one type of parasite, although problematic. Studies in other centers reveal that this type of test perhaps misses a significant percentage of giardias, with more sophisticated testing recommended in recent years by health authorities: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22184934
Few studies confirm that the genotypes of Giardia that are known to infect humans are found in domesticated, wild and farm animals. This 2002 study at Cleveland State University confirms that human Giardia lamblia genotypes A and B are widespread and exist in animals, as dogs, cats, some farm animals and some wild animals showed cysts of these types in fecal studies: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12208038
The study of parasitic infection has been largely ignored in recent decades in the United States. This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) review in 2011 found that soil-transmitted helminth infections in warmer climates were still prevalent in 1982, affecting perhaps half the population, yet no high-quality studies have been published in the last 25 years: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21976572
Scientific study is revealing how chronic parasitic infection alters the immune response by modulating the magnitude of the T regulatory (Treg) cells, also called T suppressor cells, since they act to suppress other T cell responses. This altering of the immune complement system may leave the person infected more open to other deep low-grade parasitic infections, and may explain how other inflammatory diseases progress. Epigenetic inheritance of altered gene expression from parents affected by allergies may also play a role.: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22262943
This excerpt from an article on protozoa infection (e.g. giardias, amoebas, and sporozoans) from the University of Texas in 1996 reveals the complexity of immune responses to parasites, and how protozoa infection often last years in a host body, affecting many other systems by the diverse effects on T helper cell populations of cytokines. Affects on the glucose, fatty acid, and protein metabolism, as well as autoimmune responses, are probable with a prolonged immune modulation in such parasitic infections. The imbalance of Th1 to Th2 responses has been a focus of research explaining many autoimmune disorders since this publication. These T cell subtype imbalances also may alter the expression of B cells and antibodies: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21413293
This 2006 study at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, Mucosal immunity Unit, of the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, outlines how parasites have evolved means to manipulate the host natural defenses of T regulatory (Treg) cell population, ensuring conditions that secure prolonged survival of the parasite in the person. Restoring natural homeostatic balance to the immune system with Complementary Medicine may be one way to counter this evolved mechanism: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16903921
A 2010 study at the Harbin Medical University in China revealed how electroacupuncture stimulation at just one point, ST36, restored balance between the Th1 and Th2 T helper cell populations in laboratory animals with autoimmune disease. These subjects also showed a greater hypothalamic adrenal, or ACTH, response: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20117842
A prior study in 2009 at the Harbin Medical University in China revealed how electroacupuncture stimulation regulated the balance of Th1 and Th2 T helper cell populations of cytokines in the spleen, our major lymphatic organ, both at protein messenger and RNA levels, affecting a number of inflammatory pathways after surgical trauma to reduce susceptibility to infection: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19843806
A 2012 study at Radix Pharmaceuticals in Germantown, Maryland, found that one of the chemicals in the Chinese herb Dichroa febrifuga (Shu qi leaves or Chang shan root) has a dose-dependent curative rate of 50-100 percent for malaria and the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, a protozoa: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22182577
Herbal chemicals are being widely studied for the treatment of parasitic disease. In this study at the University of Toulouse, France, in 2011, the various Chinese herbs in the Curcuma family (E zhu, Yu jin, Jiang huang) are being evaluated for a broad antiparasitic effect, examining efficacy for Candida, Giardia, Pasmodium (malaria), leishmania, Babesia, Sarcoptes and nematodes. : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21104602
A 2003 review of the treatment of parasitic disease at Southern Cross University in Australia found that scientific evidence supported a holistic protocol involving both herbal and nutritional medicine. Giardia was a focus of concern in the population, with a whole-foods based diet with high fiber, low in saturated fat, lactose, and refined sugars, use of probiotics, and numerous medicinal herbs showing significant benefits, especially Chinese herbs that contain berberine (i.e. Coptis / Huang lian), aged garlic, and the ayurvedic formula Pippali rasayana (Piper longum / Bi ba, and Myrica / Gou mei): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21104602
A 2011 study in India revealed that curcumin, a chemical found in the Chinese herbs E zhu, Yu jin, and Jiang huang (turmeric), may be more effective than antibiotics to counter Clostridium difficile, the most prevalent cause of gastroenteritis, and a growing threat with antibiotic overuse, resistant strains, and damage to the human biota from antibiotics. Antibiotic therapy is found to increase the risks of acquiring this infection by 7-10 times: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=clostridium gastroenteritis herbal
A 2012 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed that the use of acid reflux drugs were linked to the rise in Clostridium difficile-related diarrhea: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22416090
A 2008 review of the treatment of parasitic disease at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, found that a variety of classes of herbal and nutrient chemicals are effective in viral parasitic diseases, such as HIV infection. These include flavonoids, lignans, coumarins, xanthones, tannins and terpenes, which are the active chemicals in many Chinese herbs and modern nutrient medicines: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18671200
A 2000 review of the treatment of childhood viral intestinal parasitic disease at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea, found that of the 34 traditional Chinese herbs investigated to treat rotavirus and infant diarrhea, that Zhi shi, or Citrus aurantium, had the most potent effect. This simple dried fruit has now also been found effective to treat shock, exerting an alpha-adrenergic agonism, inhibit excess histamine release, and improve blood circulation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10726895
A 2001 review of the treatment of herpes and varicella viral parasitic diseases, such as herpes, cold sores, chickenpox and shingles, found that of 31 Chinese herbs studied, 4 had significant effect, alcohol extracts of Da huang, Mu dan pi, and Chuan lian zi, and water decoction of Ku shen: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11789588
A 2012 study at the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, revealed that the Chinese herb Wu bei zi (Chinese gall) and pomegranate extract, significantly inhibited Norovirus gastroenteritis: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=norovirus gastroenteritis Chinese herbs

The information on this website is not intended to be used as a specific medical advice or cure. Please consult with the practitioner or an appropriate physician, such as a licensed acupuncturist, naturopath, or medical doctor, to discuss the proper application of the information contained on this website.