Scientists validate nature’s effective worm expellers
Parasites are more common than most people realise. Some intestinal parasites such as worms spend at least part of their life cycle in the human intestine. In Africa, worm infection is of great concern and it is closely linked with poverty, poor sanitation, walking barefooted on infested soil or eating food that isn’t fully cooked.
Worm infestation has been long recognised among Nigerian children as a major health problem, in which majority of the children are found to be stunted with retarded growth, anaemic and underweight due to malnutrition.
A consultant paediatrician with the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta, Dr Nkeiruka Asumah, said various symptoms of parasite infection that doctors and patients alike must watch for included repeated diarrhoea or constipation, chronic, unexplained nausea, often accompanied by vomiting; fatigue and weakness, as well as intestinal cramping.
Other symptoms include unexplained dizziness, foul-smelling gas, indigestion, bloating, multiple food allergies, loss of appetite, itching around the anus, especially at night, difficulty sleeping, difficulty maintaining a healthy weight (over or underweight), and itching on the soles of the feet, often accompanied by a rash.
Experts also warned that in severe cases of worm infestation, the host could cough out blood, while the hookworm infestation could lead to palpitations.
Worm expellers are often used to control these intestinal parasites but these are not ready available to dwellers because of cost and poor access to effective medicines. Many resort to the use of herbs while some include foods in their diet that could make the body a less attractive host to worms and other intestinal parasites.
In a new study, scientists looking for an alternative approach to treating intestinal worms validated the folkloric use of Heliotropium indicum, Spigelia anthelmia and Senna fistula among the Yoruba tribe of South Western Nigeria as effective worm expellers.
Senna Fistula is commonly referred to as golden shower or Aidantoro in Yoruba. Heliotropium indicum is commonly referred to as kalkashin korama (Hausa), åÌtábâ ànËÌ (Igbo) and àgógó igùn (Yoruba). Spigelia anthelmia, commonly referred to as worm grass, is known as ‘Aparan’ or ‘ewe aran’.
The scientists tested out the effectiveness of the acetone, ethanol, hydro-alcohol and distilled water extracts of the roots of herbs at different concentrations larvae of worms from sheep and adult earthworms, comparing it with Vermox, a conventional worm expeller.
The 2015 study, published in the Bangladesh Journal of Pharmacology, was carried out by Oluwakemi K. Sobiyi and A.O. Tom Ashafa, both from the Phytomedicine and Phytopharmacology Research Group, Department of Plant Sciences, University of the Free State, South Africa.
The study found that the anti-helmintic activities (ability to kill worms) of the different extracts made with acetone, ethanol, hydro-alcohol and distilled water extracts was dose dependent. Howbeit, H.indicum was the most effective while S. anthelmia was the least effective.
A 100 per cent death rate was achieved in ethanol and acetone of these plants after 30 minutes of addition to larvae of worms from sheep. In addition, extracts of these plants made with a mixture of water and alcohol or distilled water ensured 100 per cent death rate at the concentration 1.0 mg/mL after 30 minutes.
The scientists reasoned that “this confirms the folkloric claim that the plants are more effective when soaked into the local gin (more or less alcohol) to kill/expel intestinal worms.”
In addition, they stated that H. indicum and S. fistula are recommended to be used as human intestinal worm expeller instead of S. anthelmia which is widely known in Nigeria.
Previously, experts have corroborated the usefulness of Gynandropsis gynandra and Buchholzia coriacea as worm expellers. These are called Uworo and Ekuya respectively in Yoruba. Fasciola gigantica, earthworm and tapeworm were used for assessing the anti-helmintic activities of the two plants. Piperazine citrate solution (Antepar) (10mg/ml) was included as a reference standard while distilled water was used as the control.
The scientists, in a 2012 report in the Asian Journal of Science and Technology, justified their folkloric uses internally for worms and pains. They found that the higher the concentration of the extracts, the greater its effectiveness against worms and the faster the time of paralysis leading to death. In fact, the plant extracts at 80mg/ml and 100mg/ml were seen to kill the worms faster than the reference standard in the case of tapeworm.
Meanwhile, including numerous spices and herbs in one’s diet could make the body a less attractive host to the numerous parasites in existence. Inclusion of garlic is especially useful for flushing out parasites such as giardia and roundworms.
Onion contains sulfur compounds that are anti-parasitic. Onion juice is very effective for intestinal worms, especially tapeworm and thread worms.
Studies have shown that pumpkin seeds can cure intestinal parasites. It doesn’t kill the worms outright, but it does help the body flush them out. The parasites are paralysed by the compounds in the seeds and cannot cling to avoid being flushed out through digestion.
Pawpaw seeds are great for getting rid of intestinal parasites. In a research published in The Journal of Medicinal Food in 2007, a combination of papaya seeds and honey was fed to 30 children with intestinal parasites and after seven days, 23 of the 30 were cleared of the infestation. Papaya seeds contain an alkaloid “Carpaine” that kills intestinal worms.
According to a study published in The Journal of Ethnopharmacology, almonds have anti-parasitic effect that help to soothe intestinal irritation and discourage intestinal parasite growth. This effect may be related to the high concentration of fatty acids in almonds.