What's Living in Your Body?

Edward Group discusses nine harmful parasites that can live in our bodies and how to get rid of them.

The human body is its own ecosystem, millions of bacteria and organisms call it home. Usually the body exists in symbiosis with these organisms, some of them provide benefit. Other organisms, parasites, provide no benefit and are usually harmful. Parasites are similar to fleas or ticks on a dog, but inside your body. They live in and attach to our intestines, they absorb nutrients, lay eggs, and excrete toxic waste (formalin, isopropal alcohol and formaldehyde) inside us.

The risk of infection is widespread. It is estimated that more than 90% of all Americans are infected with some type of harmful organism. Infection can come from “benign” activities like eating at a restaurant, owning a pet, or having a child in school or daycare. Food handlers can spread parasites through unsafe or unclean practices. Pets can pick up parasites from insect bites and introduce them into the home. The undeveloped hand washing skills and curiosity of children usually leads to lots of indirect contact with every type of infectious agent. Soldiers, travelers and workers returning from overseas often bring internal parasites with them as a result of eating or drinking contaminated food in other countries. Plumbers, sanitation engineers, and outdoor workers are also more likely to come into contact with harmful organisms. Read more