Health Market

WHILE reaching for toys, a child in a remote Bolivian village touches a window ledge in the adobe hut and comes in contact with an insect, the vinchuca, or its excrement. Later, the child suffers from inflammatory swellings, symptoms of Chagas disease. A man, sleeping on the dirt floor of his dwelling, is bitten by the same type of insect. Years later he has an advanced case of Chagas disease. From the southern border of the United States to the central regions of Argentina, it is estimated that 12,000,000 people suffer from this affliction. It is called one of the biggest problems of Latin America.

What, then, are the symptoms of Chagas disease? Once contracted, how can the disease be alleviated? What preventive measures might be taken to avoid contracting the affliction? Particularly if you live in the tropical countries of South and Central America, it would be good to know the answers to these questions. Even if you do not live where Chagas disease is most prevalent, there are sound reasons to learn more about it.

The vinchuca is one of the principal carriers of the dreaded Tripanosoma cruzi, a tiny one-celled parasite, which multiplies in humans and animals, and which is the cause of Chagas disease. It was in 1908 that Charles Chagas discovered the parasite for the first time in the intestine of the vinchuca. But the disease can also be transmitted to humans from dogs and cats.

Central and South American countries have participated, separatedly and also jointly, in studies surrounding Chagas disease and its eradication. In Bolivia, studies have intensified since the 1940s. According to one Bolivian investigation, 1,800,000 people in that country of nearly 5,000,000 inhabitants are exposed to the possibility of vinchuca bites, and 600,000 actually have been bitten.

Harm Done by the Vinchucaand Chagas Disease

These studies have revealed that some vinchucas do not carry the parasites, and those that are carriers do not infect a person by the original bite. When filling its body with blood from the victim, a carrier insect may leave its excrement near the puncture. It may drag its posterior part over the bite, thus introducing the parasites into the victims bloodstream. Or, at times, the victim immediately scratches the bitten area and infects himself.

Why is the victim not aware of the vinchucas presence? This insect is active at night. Often it drops from the ceiling onto the sleeping victim. It sticks its sharp, daggerlike snout into the victim, usually around the eyes, where the skin is very soft, or into the supple skin of the neck. The bite is painless. Therefore, without the victims being aware of what is happening, the vinchuca may suck off a small quantity of blood. Later, however, an inflammation develops around the bite. The eye may even swell shut. There may also be a glandular swelling.

Once in the bloodstream, the parasites reproduce rapidly. In the first few weeks, the parasites are detectable by laboratory analysis. Afterward, because of the production of antibodies in the victim, the parasites multiply less rapidly, making it more difficult to detect the disease by medical examination.

In the final stages of the illness, the parasites cause troubles ranging from heart failure to liver and spleen infections. Harm may be done to the lymph nodes and the brain. The victims blood pressure drops. Sometimes the parasites get into the heart. As they begin to multiply and grow, they cause clotting or stoppage in the blood vessels. Worse still, they burst the veins. Some victims suffer from enlargement of the large intestine. Digestive and elimination problems may result.

Certain victims of Chagas disease develop these serious reactions later on in life. The progress of the disease has been likened to a great iceberg in water. One small part of the total mass can be seen above the water, while the greater portion is submerged. It is the same with the symptoms of Chagas disease. Quite often the victim and his physician are unaware of the patients having contracted the disease, and the effects usually show up 15 to 20 years later, when the disease is much more advanced.

Chagas disease is not necessarily contagious. If one member of the family has it, all will not necessarily contract it. The principal way in which the disease is transmitted is by the bite of a carrier of the parasite. However, babies born of diseased mothers can get it, as the parasite penetrates the mothers placenta and reaches the developing infant during the last months of pregnancy. It is also known that a suckling baby can get the parasite through the milk of a diseased mother.

The vinchuca is not limited to crawling, but can also fly. It bites animals, too, even though it lives mainly on human blood. Interestingly, poultry, doves and other domesticated birds do not develop the disease. Nevertheless, where there are animals or birds in or near the home, there is an open invitation for bloodsucking insects to enter the house and thereafter introduce Chagas disease to the occupants.

Another Danger Blood Transfusion

The book Usted y la enfermedad de Chagas (You and Chagas Disease) points to another danger the passing of parasites from donor to patient by way of a blood transfusion. According to the publication Tropical Diseases Bulletin, Chagas disease, along with African trypanosomiasis (African sleeping sickness), yaws and filariasis (hairlike worms from two to three inches [5 to 8 centimeters] long), is transmittable through blood transfusions. In areas where blood is donated indiscriminately by the public, serious danger exists of contracting Chagas disease. Hence, those who obey the Bibles law to abstain from blood, both animal and human, are more likely to remain in good health.

It should also be noted that international travel can quickly transport disease-carrying parasites from Latin America to any other part of the globe. Hence, those who avoid blood transfusions are, to that degree, not running the risk of being infected by the disease.

Prevention

To date, there has not been a successful way to cure this disease completely. Drugs often produce problems that are nearly as bad as the malady itself.

Some suggest internal and external use of herbs in order to counteract the effects of the disease. Herbs and blossoms of the spilanthe plant are recommended. It is also suggested that one eat oceanic plants like kelp, as their iodine content can be assimilated by the organism. Herbs appear to lessen the effect of the disease, but they do not eliminate the parasites.

Cleanliness is the most important preventive measure. This is because the vinchuca makes its home in the dark, unhygienic areas of houses made of mud, straw, palm leaves and other rudimentary materials. Therefore, it has been suggested that new structures be made of cement, plaster and lime to eliminate possible habitats for the vinchuca. Also, the regular cleaning of houses and outbuildings is of utmost importance.

Charles Chagas, the discoverer of the insect carrier, recommended the destruction of the vinchuca as the only solution for eliminating the disease. Since there is no satisfactory cure for the infection, many are in agreement with this. At present there are insecticides that destroy the vinchuca in all its stages, including the egg stage.

If you are a deer or elk hunter you may have heard of diseases like Mad Cow Disease. People get Mad Cow Disease from eating infected cattle and beef products. Can you get anything similar by eating big game? If you hunt deer or elk there is a disease call “Chronic Wasting Disease”. Chronic Wasting Disease is a member of group of transmittable brain diseases that affect elk and deer. The brains of these animals become riddled with holes and almost look like a sponge – that you may wipe and clean your S.U.V. with.

There are other similar diseases that have been around for a long time. Scrapie is a disease that affects sheep. It’s been around a long time – perhaps 200 to 400 years. Sheep get Scrapie – never humans. Similarly well publicized is a disease known as “Mad Cow Disease”. “Mad Cow” is obtained and spread by eating infected cattle. The disease spreads and takes a long time to appear – sometimes a decade. However it is only spread by cattle, and eating infected beef products, nothing else. For all the zillions of people who you know , or do not know , who have eaten beef , only a relatively small amount have ever come down with this disease. You have hundred of thousands of times more chances of the a airline losing your luggage on the way to your hunting trip to Canada than getting Mad Cow Disease by eating infected beef. So far it appears that the Chronic Wasting Disease found in America and Canada does not infect or transfer to people who have eaten this infected meat. It is true that any effects take up to decades to appear. Still Chronic Wasting Disease does not appear to be able to spread by eating infected meat – obtained by hunting big game in North America.

The knowledge of the appearance of Chronic Wasting Disease in big game animals first occurred when scientists discovered this Chronic Wasting Disease in a captive mule deer near Fort Collins in Colorado. This occurred as far back as 1977. Whether it was because it was now a known disease for wildlife biologists, and was there all the time before, or whether because the diseases had spread – Shortly thereafter the disease was found and appeared in mule deer at a sister research station nearby to the Fort Collins station. At the very worst in the most densely affected regions In the area known as the heart of the disease problem – rates of infection are as high as 15 % of the mule deer population and 1 to 2 % of the sparse population of elk that reside there It is true and can be determined that the big game disease of Chronic Wasting Disease is certainly on the upswing and definitely spreading. Reports as far away as Canada are now known and reported. However this seems to affect only elk and deer that are in captive game ranches and not wild animals endemic to these areas – and that hunter’s dream of.

Even though no reports of people getting sick from eating tainted hunted game have been reported and as well for a longer term case study – for all the fact that Scrapie diseases in sheep had been around for 300 years and no human being has been stricken with Scrapie or a similar malady what precautions can you take to reduce and minimize any risks?

First of all do not shoot, handle or consume any animal that is acting abnormally or appears to be sick. Best to contact your state or Canadian provincial wildlife department if you se such a case. Next use latex gloves when field dressing your deer or elk. Bone out the meat from your animal. Do not saw through the brain or spinal cord.

It is best practice to minimize the handling of brain and spinal tissues. After field dressing an animal, wash your hands, saws and knifes thoroughly with strong chlorine, Javex type bleach.

All told if is best to avoid consuming the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes of harvested animals. Lastly if you do have your animal commercially processed, request that your animal is processed individually without meat from other animals being mingled with the meat from your animal.

All in all as in the sport of hunting and in protecting the health of yourself, your family and friends as well as your hunting buddies it never hurts to play it safe.

I had heard of prostate diseases for years but never thought much about it till a friend developed prostate problems.

His situation was enough to get me curious about prostate diseases.

First I learned that the prostate is a doughnut-shaped cluster of glands at the bottom of the bladder between the rectum and the base of the penis. It produces most of the fluid in semen.

I then learned that there are three main diseases of the prostrate: cancer, prostatitis and prostrate enlargement.

First let’s talk about the ‘big one’, cancer.

In the USA, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death for men after lung cancer.

African-American men are more than twice as likely to get the disease as any other ethnic group in the world. No one knows why this is so.

Prostate cancer is primarily a disease of aging. About 80 percent of all cases occur in men over sixty-five.

However, the rate of prostate cancer is rapidly rising in all men, even those under fifty. Generally, the younger a man is when he is diagnosed with prostate cancer, the worse his prognosis. Its increase among younger men points to the role of diet and exposure to environmental toxins in the development of the disease.

Prostatitis (prostate inflammation) is common in men of all ages. The usual cause is infectious bacteria that invade the prostate from another area of the body.

These can be either acute or chronic infections. Acute infections come on suddenly and may include fever and chills, pain and burning on urination and ejaculation, frequent urge to urinate while passing only small amounts of urine and blood in the urine. Symptoms of chronic prostatitis are similar but usually milder than the acute infection.

Prostatitis usually responds well to home care and antibiotic treatment.

Prostate enlargement seems to be a natural process, often associated with aging, and not necessarily a disease, but the gradual enlargement of the prostate. In the USA it occurs in about half of all men over fifty.

The major symptom is the need to pass urine frequently, perhaps with pain or burning feelings.

As prostate enlargement is often not a serious problem (though it depends on the case), let’s talk about the other two prostate diseases.

Prostate cancer is usually a slow growing cancer, often with no symptoms until its advanced stages. Symptoms include: pain or a burning sensation during urination, frequent urination, a decrease in the size and force of urine flow, an inability to urinate, blood in the urine, and lower back discomfort. However, these symptoms may be caused by benign enlargement or prostatitis. To get an accurate reading of the condition professional evaluation is of course recommended.

For treatment, testing is important. This may include a rectal exam (which can be rather painful) and/or a blood test. Ultrasound scanning is one of a number of other tests.

Unfortunately, prostate cancer can be difficult to diagnose in its early stages. Many cases are diagnosed only after the cancer has spread outside the gland.

Some of the treatment options for prostate cancer include:

? Experimental therapies such as cryoablation (freezing of cancer cells) and laser surgery are sometimes used.

? If the cancer has spread into the capsule of the gland, the standard approach is some form of radiation therapy. Try to avoid this, as it leaves men impotent 50 percent of the time.

? Removal of the gland may be recommended but consider that about 50 percent of men who have this done, even with the new “nerve sparing” techniques, become impotent. Watchful waiting, with nutritional support and lifestyle change, is becoming the preferred approach if the cancer is in the early stages.

? Many consider prostate cancer to be one of the most over treated diseases in America. Physicians in Europe have long used a conservative nutritional approach with good results.

? Research has shown that soybeans and soy products, such as tofu, soy flour and soymilk, have cancer-fighting powers due to the presence of a protein called genistein. It appears to be particularly effective against prostate cancer, but also works against breast cancer in women and colon cancer in both sexes.

Prostrate cancer prevention often includes a whole-foods diet, which was intriguing to me. Some suggestions include:

? Eat whole grains, raw nuts and seeds, and brown rice. Also broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower and carrots, pumpkin, squash and yams. This type of diet is important for both prevention and healing.

? Also include apples, fresh cantaloupe, all kinds of berries, Brazil nuts, cherries, grapes, legumes (including chickpeas, lentils and red beans) and plums.

? Try drinking freshly made vegetable and fruit juices daily.

? Include foods high in zinc, such as whole grain cereals or brewer’s yeast.

? Use cold-pressed organic oils such as sesame, safflower or olive oil for essential fatty acids.

? Eliminate red meat, alcohol and caffeine.

? Strictly avoid: junk foods and refined foods. Instead of salt, use a kelp or potassium substitute. A little blackstrap molasses or pure maple syrup is a good, natural sweetener. Use whole wheat or rye instead of white flour.

These are good suggestions, but always seek counsel and alternative opinions before deciding which treatments or diets to use.

For prostatitis treatment, I found two general categories, one being home treatment, and then other treatments, generally.

For home treatment some recommendations are:

? Drink 8 to 12 glasses of fluid daily. Extra fluids help flush the urinary tract clean.

? Eliminate all alcohol and caffeine from your diet.

? Keep stress under control.

? Hot baths help soothe pain and reduce stress Aspirin or ibuprofen may help ease painful urinary symptoms

? Certain herbal teas may help.

? There are various types of hydrotherapy that a professional can advise you about.

? Eat 1 to 4 ounces of raw pumpkin seeds every day. They are rich in zinc. Alternatively, take pumpkinseed oil in capsule form.

? Get regular exercise. Do not ride a bicycle which may put pressure on the prostate.

Other treatment options include:

? Treatment with antibiotics and analgesics may be necessary.

? However, long-term use of antibiotics can lead to bacterial resistance, which necessitates more potent drugs, more expense, and more medical complications.

So “do it yourself” seems promising here, but of course one should always seek professional medical advice.

I would summarise what I researched that, as with any major disease an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Try to keep a healthy lifestyle, do things that seem useful and rewarding to you and don’t be slow about getting medical checkups if you have any sense that something in your body may not be up to par.