The reason for writing this article was my business trip to the Tyumen region. There I had to meet a lot of people who were infected with opisthorchiasis. They were treated with modern medical preparations, but unfortunately many of them not only were not cured, but are still treating the side effects of these drugs. I would like to share my practical experience of treating this insidious and difficult to cure disease.
Siberia, where we live, is a very interesting place. There are two global health problems here – in spring, summer and early fall, the threat of tick-borne encephalitis hangs over us like a sword of Damocles, and parasitoses, especially opisthorchiasis, are a year-round problem. I would like to draw your attention to it, as opisthorchiasis centers are present in the basins of the Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Volga, Kama, Dnieper, Ural and Northern Dvina rivers. The region of Western Siberia is recognized as one of the extremely intense foci of opisthorchiasis infestation. The Ob-Irtysh basin is the largest endemic territory for opistorchiasis, which belongs to the category of “uncontrollable” parasitic diseases in our country. In the middle reaches of the Ob and lower reaches of the Irtysh, the local population is affected by opisthorchiasis reaches 70-80% and even 90%. In addition to our region, the Dnieper basin, Volga-Kama and Neman river basins are affected by opisthorchiasis (i.e. even in such civilized countries as Austria, Holland, Germany, Hungary and Poland people also get opisthorchiasis).
Opisthorchiasis is an extremely insidious disease. Having many mechanisms of impact on the human body – mechanical, allergic, neurogenic, secondary-infectious – it causes a variety of clinical manifestations: biliary dyskinesia, diseases of the stomach and intestines, liver and bile ducts, dysbacteriosis, vegeto-vascular dystonia, pancreatic lesions, allergies. Opistorchosis is necessarily accompanied by inflammation, so it can cause suppuration, abscesses, biliary peritonitis. Opisthorchiasis disrupts the normal functioning of almost all organs and systems of the body. In addition to diseases of the entire gastrointestinal tract, the cardiovascular, endocrine and nervous systems suffer. Parasites have a negative impact on the course of pregnancy and childbirth, physical and mental development of children. The most terrible complications of opisthorchiasis are cancer of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas.
Medication treatment of opisthorchiasis.
More than half a century history of opisthorchiasis treatment has accumulated many different remedies: quinine, emetine, male fern extract, jatren, faudin, etc. Almost all of them proved ineffective or showed low efficacy. Tangible positive results of opisthorchiasis treatment were obtained with the use of hexchlorparaxylol (Chloxyl, N. N. Plotnikov, 1962). However, even with a five-day course, the efficacy of Chloxil was established only in 60% of those who received the therapy.
The problem of opisthorchiasis treatment is not completely solved by the use of praziquantel (biltricide “Bayer”; cesol, cysticide “Merck”; piciton PRC, azinox Russia). Having undoubted advantages over Chloxil – one-day administration of the drug and its high activity against immature stages of parasites, biltricide still does not exceed 80% in effectiveness. This creates prerequisites for repeated courses of deworming, the number of which is limited (no more than three).
In addition, despite the existing characteristic of the drug: rapidly metabolized, excreted by kidneys mainly (80%) in the form of metabolites within 4 days, with 90% of the administered dose excreted in the first 24 hours, biltricide is severely tolerated by patients. Patients for two to three months after treatment feel discomfort from the hepatobiliary system: nausea, decreased appetite, a feeling of heaviness in the subcostal area, unstable stools. Moreover, there are reports that the use of biltricide causes destructive changes in the liver, which develop 12 hours after its administration.
There is also another aspect. Even with successful deworming, the symptoms of chronic lesions of the gastrointestinal tract, hepatobiliary system, interpreted as post opisthorchiasis phenomena remain. All this together underlies the basis of patients’ refusal of biltricide, and their search for any other methods of treatment, sometimes so-called “folk”, not causing irreparable harm to health.
When I worked at the Altai Regional Center for Restorative Therapy, we carried out a comprehensive treatment of opisthorchiasis. First, our patients underwent liver and intestinal cleansing, thenwet fasting. And after a good quality cleansing we prescribed Ecorsol – a preparation containing aspen bark extract and hepatosol (lohein). After therapeutic fasting any parasites become very weak, all antiparasitic herbs on the contrary have a stronger effect on parasites. We achieved very good therapeutic results. In Tyumen, where I worked in the Center of therapeutic fasting, several of our patients, aftercleansing the intestines and liver, underwent a course ofdrytherapeutic fasting for 5 – 7 days, they all had excellent results.
Why can dry therapeutic fasting help?
● Due to dehydration of the organism a strong competitive struggle between body cells and pathogenic microorganisms for water begins. Body cells in the host position take water from microorganisms, but the body itself can not only synthesize endogenous water in the required amount, but also takes water during this period from the air, absorbing it through the skin. This is because the body works on absorption rather than excretion during dry fasting. Healthy, strong cells get extra energy and water, while parasites, viruses and bacteria cannot. Under such conditions of dehydration, the cell membranes of parasites are damaged, membrane transport is altered, carbohydrate metabolism and their vital activity are disturbed.
● A multi-day refusal of food and water intake creates conditions for the withdrawal of a very powerful army of B-lymphocytes from the advanced gastrointestinal positions. They are pulled from all lymphatic collectors and nodes of the long digestive tract. But especially many of them come from the small intestine. The army of B-lymphocytes transferred to the reserve is used for its direct purpose. It suppresses and neutralizes all available pathogenic and foreign elements. In the usual satiated state, parasites that were in the encapsulated (dormant) state, practically do not succumb to modern antiparasitic therapy. On the contrary, in these conditions parasites, being in protective shells, become more resistant to these drugs and other medicines. In dry fasting these shells are destroyed by phagocytes and enzymes activated by acidosis, which explains the good therapeutic effect of fasting in the treatment of this pathology.
● During dry fasting, higher concentrations of bioactive substances, hormones, immunocompetent cells and immunoglobulins in body fluids are achieved, which gives a powerfulimmunostimulatingand antiparasitic effect.
