According to a 2014 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) press release (1):

"Most people think parasitic diseases occur in poor and developing countries, or are infections they might pick up on a trip to a foreign country. However, parasitic infections also occur in the United States, and in some cases affect millions of people. Often they can go unnoticed, with few symptoms. But many times the infections cause serious illnesses, including seizures, blindness, pregnancy complications, heart failure, and even death. Anyone—regardless of race or economic status—can become infected."

Five "Neglected Parasitic Infections" in the US

In the press release, the CDC goes on to state:

"CDC has targeted five neglected parasitic infections (NPIs) in the United States as priorities for public health action based on the numbers of people infected, the severity of the illnesses, or our ability to prevent and treat them. These NPIs include Chagas disease, cysticercosis, toxocariasis, toxoplasmosis, and trichomoniasis."

I frequently see indications of one or more of these parasites (and many others) when I test clients for evidence of parasites using bioenergetic testing.  Among these five parasitic infections prioritized by the CDC, I most frequently see the last four of the five mentioned in the CDC press release, the pork tapeworm that causes cysticercosis (Taenia solium), the roundworm from dogs and cats that causes toxocariasis (Toxocara canis), the protozoan parasite that causes toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma gondii), and the protozoan parasite that causes trichomoniasis (Trichomonas vaginalis), a sexually-transmitted infection. I have only seen the parasite that causes Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi) in two clients so far.

As a side note, the CDC press release stated, "More than 60 million people in the United States are chronically infected with Toxoplasma gondii, the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis." 60 million people infected with one parasite alone in this country!

The CDC press release also added that "new infections in pregnant women can lead to birth defects and infections in those with compromised immune systems can be fatal."

Other Parasitic Infections I Commonly See in People I Work With

At least as frequently as I encounter the parasitic infections mentioned above, I also see the roundworm that causes Ascariasis (Ascaris lumbricoides), the protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia, pinworms (Enterobius vermicularis), a type of roundworm commonly referred to as a threadworm (Strongyloides stercoralis), a type of roundworm called a hookworm (e.g. Ancylostoma caninum from dogs), and flukes that inhabit the lungs, liver, intestines, pancreas, lymph, and/or blood (e.g. especially Schistosoma mansoni, the cause of Schistosomiasis, which affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide).

Symptoms Caused by Parasites

Parasites can cause nearly any symptom a person can experience,  including emotional symptoms like anxiety or suicidal ideation. However, each parasite typicaly has a certain range of symptoms that it causes, usually in conjuction with where in the body it takes up residence.

Intestinal parasites typically cause intestinal symptoms, nutrient deficiencies, emotional symptoms,, and sometimes dysbiosis such as small intestine bacterial overgrowth. Brain parasites cause brain-related symptoms and degeneration. Liver parasites cause digestive problems and liver disease. Chronic parasitic infections in any part of the body can lead to immune system dysregulation that can promote autoimmune disease or cancer. 

Parasitic infections can also cause seizures, blindness, infertility, heart failure, and even death, according to former CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.  in the 2014 press release. Frieden further stated, 'They’re more common in the US than people realize and yet there is so much we don’t know about them. We need research to learn more about these infections and action to better prevent and treat them.'"

Parasites Without Symptoms?

As stated in the CDC press release, "Often they (parasitic infections) can go unnoticed, with few symptoms. " However, an absence of symptoms does not mean an absence of harm. 

For example, Giardiasis (infection with species such as Giardia duadenalis or Giardia lamblia) can begin with alternating constipation and diarrhea  and later become relatively symptomless. However, this parasite destroys the microvilli in the small intestine, reducing nutrient assimilation and causing nutrient deficiencies.

Giardiasis can also promote dysbiosis and damage to the intestinal lining (2, 3), which can in turn cause changes in immune system function that further promote dysbiosis. Conversely, it appears that dysbiosis can promote Giardiasis and that treatments with certain strains of probiotics (beneficial bacteria) can successfully treat Giardia.

Types of Parasites

Parasites exist primarily in two broad categories: single-celled parasites called "protozoans" and multi-cellular parasites in the form of worms. Parasites also typically exhibit different forms in various stage of their life cycle. Protozoans often have a dormant "cyst" form, and worms often have "larval" stages that are small and mobile and travel throughout the body, such as from the intestines to the lungs or brain.

Examples of protozoan parasites include Giardia duodenalis, Toxoplasma gondii, and Trichomonas vaginalis, all of which were mentioned previously. These parasites can only be seen by microscope.

Examples of worm parasites include tapeworms, flukes, and roundworms (including roundworms, hookworms, threadworms, and pinworms). The biological terms for the various types of worm parasites are as follows:

1. Roundworms (and hookworms, threadworms, and pinworms) are called nematodes.
2. Tapeworms are called cestodes.
3. Flukes are called trematodes.

Could Your Persistent Health Symptoms Be Caused by Parasites?

Do you have symptoms that were treated for a specific diagnosis, but it didn’t work?

For example, do you have any of the following?

• Bladder and/or pelvic floor pain that was diagnosed as a recurring urinary tract infection, interstitial cystitis, or regional pain syndrome
• Lung symptoms like a chronic cough or asthma that might have been diagnosed as COVID or allergic or non-allergic asthma
• Achy muscles, morning stiffness, or slow lymphatic drainage, no matter how much lymphatic drainage support you use, which might have been diagnosed as fibromyalgia
• Enlarged or tender liver and/or swollen and tender abdomen, perhaps with ascites (lymphatic fluid accumulation in the abdomen), which might have been diagnosed simply as hepatitis
• Brain fog, difficulty focusing, memory loss, or other cognitive symptoms like memory loss, which might have been diagnosed as chronic fatigue / myalgic encephalitis
• Seizures

All of those symptoms could be due to parasites, including some very scare ones that are supposedly only found in tropical regions.

"Tropical" Parasites Are Almost Everywhere Now

Bladder and/or pelvic floor pain that seems like a UTI or interstitial cystitis could be Schistosomiasis, a parasite that you can catch from swimming in almost ANY freshwater in the world. It swims up your urethra into your bladder.

Mainstream medicine tends to believe that Schistosomiais only exists in tropical countries, but it has been found even in alpine lakes in Switzerland. The truth is that even "tropical" parasitic infections can be caught almost everywhere and aren't nearly as rare as you might think.

Why Some Parasites Are Dangerous to Treat

When parasites reside in tissues such as the brain, liver, lungs, or lymphatic system, killing them must be done in certain ways to avoid a potentially deadly inflammatory immune system response that can cause anaphylaxis, seizures, and/or death.

In the United States, mainstream medicical practitioners rarely test and treat for parasites, but when they do identify and treat the infections, they sometimes kill people in the process if the immune system mounts a strong inflammatory response to the "die-off" of parasites during treatment. 

Examples of parasites that can be dangerous to treat for this reason include the following:

1. Lung worm
2. Filarial nematode infection of the lymphatic system
3. (Neuro)cysticercosis, infection of the brain by the pork tapeworm
4. "Cystic Echinococcosis" (aka "hydatid disease" or "hydatidosis") of organs like the liver

Lung Worm

A lung worm called Varestrongylus klapowi (previously named Cryptostrongylus pulmoni, meaning "hidden" lung worm) is thought to be the most common cause of fatigue by the researcher that discovered it, Lawrence Klapow, because he found it in a majority of participants with chronic fatigue in a study that he conducted. In addition to fatigue, people with this parasite often experience lung symptoms like asthma and cough. This parasite can be carried on the back side of salad greens leaves (think romaine lettuce). Wash carefully and thoroughly!

Filariasis of the Lymphatic System

Some parasite species in the family Filaridae such as Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and Brugia timori can infect the lymphatic system, causing lymphatic congestion, sore or stiff muscles, and sometimes significant edema in the extremities. This type of parasitic infection is called filariasis and is transmitted by mosquito bites.

The symptoms can include the following: 

• Lymphedema, a swelling of the legs (severe cases are sometimes known as elephantiasis), arms, breasts, or genitalia
• Hydrocele, or swelling in the scrotal sac, usually of adult men
• Hardening or thickening of skin
• Persistent coughing, wheezing, or shortness of breath

Tapeworm Infection of the Brain, (Neuro)cysticercosis

Cystic larvae (in the "hatchling" stage of the life cycle) of Taenia solium (pork tapeworm) can infect the brain and be the cause of neurological symptoms such as "brain fog", other cognitive challenges, and seizure disorders. This parasitic infection of the brain is called "neurocysticercosis" or "cysticercosis". This parasitic infection was one of the five "neglected parasitic infections" mentioned in the CDC press release.

Cystic Echinococcosis of the Liver or Other Organs

Small tapeworms of the genus Echinococcus can infect the liver and other organs, causing ccysts (liquid-filled growths). Symptoms can include the following:

• Hives or skin rash
• Jaundice (yellow skin)
• Nausea and vomiting
• Coughing
• Shortness of breath
• Unexplained weight loss
• Discomfort in the abdomen or chest
• Lump or mass in the midsection, ascites (abdominal edema), and bloody stools.

This condition is called "cystic Echinococcosis", "hydatid disease", or "hydatidosis". Some standard treatments for this condition (surgical removal or injecting the cysts with medications) are dangerous because they increase the risk that the eggs and cysts will spread all over the body. 

Safer Treatment of Parasites in the Brain, Lungs, Lymphatic System, Liver, and Other Organs

As mentioned previously, when parasites die in the lungs, lymphatic system, or brain the immune system can launch a strong inflammatory response that can lead to anaphylactic shock, seizures, and/or death. And surgical treatment for cystic Echinococcosis can lead to systemic spread of the infection throughout the body.

But don’t worry. These conditions can be treated more safely using the right methods. An international parasite expert came up with a strategy that prevented deadly outcomes in people being treated for neurocysticercosis. On day 3, she gave them a dose of a particular corticosteroid drug that readily enters the central nervous system, including the brain.

It may also be advisable to use this same strategy when tackling parasites in other tissues like the lungs, lymphatic system, and liver or other organs in order to avoid anaphylaxis.

Testing for Parasites

Antibody tests are available for some parsitic infections, such as filariasis. But for most parasites, the only laboratory testing methods available are PCR (testing for DNA) and microscopic examination of stool samples.

Unfortunately, stool sample analysis via PCR and microscopy usually fail to diagnose parasitic infections. It seems that dead parasites passing out of the body in the feces degrade very quickly (probably consumed by bacteria) and are therefore not detected.

An alternative way test for parasites is with kinesiological testing ("muscle testing"). This usually involves small glass vials containing water that has been imprinted with the frequencies of pathogens such as parasites. However, the utility of this method is limited by the practical limit on the number of glass vials that can be physically stored or used in the course of kinesiological testing for parasites.

Another way to test for parasites is to use bioenergetic testing. There are multiple types of bioenergetic testing, and most are administered with the help of a database of the "energy frequencies" of thousands pathogens, including parasites. Typically, the frequency of a pathogen is transmitted to the body by a device and/or software, and then the device and/or software detect the body's reaction to the frequency. If the body is highly reactive to the frequency, this typically indicates the presence of the pathogen associated with that frequency.

Bioenergetic testing is probably the best available method of testing for the presence of parasites because it is not limited by the challenges of bacterial degradation of dead parasites in feces nor the practical limitations on storing or using a high number of glass vials in kinesiological testing.

Challenges with Anti-Parasitic Treatments

The two main types of treatments for parasitic infections are botanicals (herbs) and antiparasitic pharmaceutical drugs. In recent years, it seems that botanicals have become less effective on parasites. And in some cases, parasites are developing resistance to certain antiparasitic pharmaceutical drugs.

I am generally not in favor of using pharmaceutical drugs, but antiparasitic drugs are an exception. Many have low toxicity and also useful additional properties like being anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-cancer. They also tend to be much more effective than botanicals. 

The problem with using botanicals that are not effective enough is that while they may kill some parasites, and these parasites might be seen exiting the body in the stool, this could give a false impression that all of the parasties have been killed. Or alternatively, it could lead to an endless cycle of repeated "full moon" parasite cleanses.

Despite the limitations of many botanical antiparasitic agents, some novel botanical treatments for parasites are proving to be more effective than traditional botanical antiparasitic agents. Highly effective electromagnetic antiparasitic treatment technologies have also been developed recently. So we are actually entering a period of overall increasingly effective options for safely and effectively treating parasite infections.

Do All Parasite Infections Need to be Treated?

I would say that parasites do not always need to be treated. It depends on the parasite and whether it is having a negative effect on you, or a positive effect. Yes, parasites can have a positive effect.

You might have heard of the use of hook worms to treat allergies, asthma, and autoimmune conditions. It seems that humans may have coevolved with parasites to develop a dependence on the moderate immunosuppressive effect of certain parasites.

Consequently, the absence of such parasites could increase the risk of immune system dysregulation that results in allergies, asthma, and autoimmunity. On the other hand, parasites can also cause those conditions. It depends on the situation.

6 Things You May Need to Address Before Parasites

If you’re considering the possibility that you might have parasite, … I encourage you to first keep at the forefront of your mind the "order of operations" in relation to treating parasites. That’s because it is more effective and safer to first address "terraine" issues that typicall accompany and even promote parasite infections. 

For example, you might need to first do one or more of the following:

1. Clear "mucoid plaque" from your intestines because this provides a habitat for parasites and may impair the ability of antiparasitic botanicals or drugs to reach parasites embedded in mucoid plaque.
2. Stabilize mast cells so they (or other elements of inflammatory immune response) don’t go dangerously haywire once you are killing pathogens.
3. Support adrenal function in order to improve production of secretory IgA (SIgA), an immunoglobulin that helps the body defends its borders in "hollow" spaces like the lungs and gut. If low SIgA levels remain low, parasites or other pathogens are more likely to reappear after you tried to eliminate them. You could also take chlorella to improve SIgA production.
4. Start removing heavy metals before killing parasites because they can accumulate heavy metals at 100s of times the concentration in your own cells and could release that toxic payload when they die.
5. Heal past trauma because unhealed trauma can prevent your body from releasing toxins like heavy metals, which is important to do before and during the parasite cleansing process, as described above.
6. Reduce or mitigate your exposure to EMFs because the effects of EMF exposure can block or reduce success with any of the above.

These aspects of your terrain must be brought into balance in order to resolve "infections" and prevent their recurrence. You might be able get away with diving straight into parasite cleansing if you are using low-potency parasite cleanses that kill parasites at a slow pace, and it could make sense to use start that way, but it will probably be more effective to address terrain-healing steps first or at least during antiparsitic treatments.

It could feel slow and burdensome to take things one step at a time, especially if you have been trying to resolve a health challenge for a long time. But I assure you that following a roadmap that identifies and resolves terrain and other issues in an effective "order of operations" that is customized to you will ultimately move you forward faster in the end, while minimizing the risk of setbacks, relapses, and worse.

Take-Home Lessons

What I would like you to realize from all of this is the following:

• Parasites are everywhere and easy to contract from food, insects, pets, other people, and exposure to water and soil.
• Many common symptoms that you would not expect can be due to parasites.
• Alternative testing options may be more useful than conventoinal lab tests.
• Sometimes treating a parasitic infection can be dangerous if not treated in the correct way.

You don’t have to go swimming in a lake, travel to the tropics, or eat undercooked meat to pick up parasites. Some of the most common sources of parasites are pets, underwashed produce, and close contact with other infected people (e.g. family members and sexual partners).

Bioenergetic testing can identify the presence of parasites (and other pathogens) when conventional lab testing (or kinesiological testing) fail to find them. This can go a long way toward avoiding wasted years spent chasing incorrect diagnoses and treatments when parasites have been to blame all along.

Certain parasitic infections need to be taken very seriously and should not be treated by anybody that is not aware of the risk of severe consequences, including death, that goes with treating certain parasitic infections. Surprisingly, most conventional doctors are unaware of these risks. Death during under-informed conventional antiparasitic treatment has really happened. Be careful. Antiparasitic treatment must be done intelligently and in the right sequence with everything else that might need to be addressed first or simultaneously.

The Good News

The good news is that even though some parasitic infections are dangerous, and dangerous to treat, there are good solutions, and there is a relatively simple path to eliminating even the most dangerous parasites, if done carefully and correctly.

Successfully treating parasites is often a key step in putting an end to almost any kind of symptom from fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, or depression to food allergies, gastrointestinal disorders, asthma, and mast cell activation syndrome. Getting back your energy, your brain power, your joy, and your life could be on the other side of safely and effectively treating parasites. 

If you would like help navigating parasites, other pathogens, correcting your internal "terrain", and/or matters pertaining to a customized "order of operations" for you, feel free to reach out to me.

To learn more about my approach, you can download the Bio-Individual Blueprint Roadmap and watch the walkthrough video, and then schedule a time to meet.

If you have already downloaded the Roadmap and watched the video, you can schedule a meeting here.