IBS

Do you suffer from a stressed stomach or do you have an IBS diagnosis? Then you may have a parasitic infection.

There are studies showing a connection with IBS symtoms and parasitic infections. Also, they do share some of the symptoms such as stomach issues, bloating, diarrhea (sporadic or acute), constipation, flatulence, nausea and passing mucus to mention a few.

Some very common parasites can cause these symptoms, such as Dientamoeba fragilis and Cryptosporidium parvum.

Dientamoeba fragilis was previously known as a commensal parasite but many new research articles show the pathogenic abilities and that it actually consists of various subtypes that can differ in pathogenicity. It can cause bloating, diarrhea, stomach pain and other symptoms.

Parasite testing can be expensive and by some GPs testing is considered unnecessary due to the fact that they believe that parasites do not exist in the western parts of the world. Luckily, other GPs test regularly and have great results. Key is to find the parasites before they affect your health too much – so if you have had a stomach bug while traveling, and then get IBS a few months to 10 years later, that could be connected to getting a parasite way back.

How do people get infected by parasites?
Most parasite infections are connected to food where the hygiene have not ben 100% through the whole chain. It could be as simple as that we were playing with a dog and did not wash our hands enough before we took a snack. Other ways in through swimming in places where there are parasites – in both sweet water and salt water. In many places, especially in poorer countries, sewer-systems are not up to date or sewage is being dumped in the ocean in order to save costs and work. Walking barefoot in certain places can also increase the risk of certain worms. Another item, we may think we do everything according to highest hygiene standards, but I have forgotten to wash avocados many a time before cutting it open.