Giardia In The Liver In Adults - Symptoms And Treatment

2023 Author: Riley Dean | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 08:37

Signs of liver damage with lamblia in children and adults, treatment options for infection

Content

1 What is giardiasis in the liver
2 Symptoms of lamblia in the liver in adults
3 Symptoms of giardiasis in children
- 3.1 How is hepatic giardiasis diagnosed in adults?
- 3.2 How to diagnose hepatic giardiasis in children?
4 How to treat giardia in the liver?
- 4.1 Preparatory phase
- 4.2 Second stage
- 4.3 Third stage
5 Prevention of giardiasis

Giardiasis is one of the most common intestinal infections. It is often referred to as dirty hand disease. Most often, children of preschool age are ill with giardiasis. Giardia becomes the cause of the appearance of this ailment.

What is giardiasis in the liver

Giardia

Giardiasis begins to develop actively after several parasites enter the body. Passing through the stomach, lamblia cysts are freed from their shell, and they penetrate into the intestine already in the form of trophozoites. They settle mainly in the small intestine, since it is here that active absorption of nutrients and vitamins occurs. In the intestine, lamblia are attached to the walls with the help of strong suction cups and flagella.

Giardia reproduces very quickly. For the emergence of a new individual, 10 minutes are enough, in 10 hours their volume doubles. For 1 sq. cm of the intestine can account for up to a million parasites. After 40 days of their life, the parasites die and are excreted along with the waste in a natural way.

If the conditions for the development of the parasite are favorable, after a while their number becomes too large and Giardia begins to actively migrate through the body in search of new habitats. Giardia cannot live in the liver, since it is not a hollow organ and there is no favorable habitat for them.

During normal functioning of the body, lamblia, getting into the bile ducts and hepatic ducts, pass into the stage of cysts. Since this form is static and does not know how to attach to the walls, they are excreted from the body through the intestines along with feces.

In the case when there are certain disturbances in the work of the biliary tract or the body produces an insufficient volume of bile, the parasites are able to survive in the hepatic ducts. In this case, part of the lamblia perishes, clogging the ducts and leading to intoxication of the whole organism.

The most viable trophozoites, with the help of their flagella, try to gain a foothold in the gaps, trying to move to more favorable conditions for themselves.

As a result of the mass migration of lamblia, blockage of the ducts and biliary tract can occur. If proper treatment is not started in time, pathological changes in organs are inevitable.

In addition, although there is no nutrition in the liver ducts for lamblia, their activity as a result of attempts to suck leads to mechanical damage.

Symptoms of lamblia in the liver in adults

Signs of giardiasis of the liver do not make themselves felt immediately after infection. For this, time must pass for the disease to gain momentum. In most cases, in adults, giardiasis in the liver is almost asymptomatic.

A person remains a carrier of parasites, but the disease never occurs. This is due to strong immunity or too little Giardia that has entered the intestines.

In the event that a massive infection has occurred and enough lamblia individuals have entered the adult's body for the rapid development of infection, the following clinical signs are likely:

Enlargement of the liver and spleen. This syndrome is called hepatolienal.
The development of cholecystitis and impaired motility of the biliary tract are bright signs of giardiasis in the liver.
Giardia in the liver is often accompanied by symptoms such as unstable stools. There are frequent transitions from frothy diarrhea to constipation.
Gas formation, bloating after eating, often severe pain in the right side and in the lower abdomen. At the same time, it is very difficult to determine exactly where the source of pain is. Such a symptom in an adult is a reason to be tested for lamblia in the liver.
Due to blockage of the hepatic ducts and biliary tract, frequent heartburn, belching occurs.

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Often, during hepatic giardiasis, all kinds of allergic reactions, skin rashes, redness occur. It is worth paying special attention to the fact of a sudden allergy, especially since after a while such a condition can turn into atopic dermatitis and even bronchial asthma.
During giardiasis, the skin often dries, peels off, a marble pattern and an icteric shade appear. Cracks often appear in the corners of the mouth. All this is due to the lack of vitamins and nutrients that Giardia actively absorb for their growth and reproduction.
For giardiasis, a depressive state is characteristic, since parasites die in the body, leading to the production of toxins in large quantities. This process negatively affects the work of the body in general and the nervous system in particular.
Patients often report poor sleep, sudden mood swings, and overexcitation.

If you do not start the treatment of giardiasis in a timely manner, it goes from the acute stage to the chronic:

As a result of long-term lack of nutrients and vitamins, a person begins to lose weight (this happens gradually, but stably;
For the same reason, a person loses his ability to work, becomes more and more irritable and nervous;
Intestinal disorders at this stage make themselves felt with greater force.

Against the background of a long-term illness, intoxication appears. It is also possible to determine whether this process is present in the body by a number of signs, especially since, unlike the previous ones, they manifest themselves more actively and clearly:

Often there is an increase in the adenoids;
The lymph nodes also get larger;
Often there is a subfebrile temperature that does not rise above 37.5 and does not fall below 37.1;
Infections occurring at this time are very difficult to treat, requiring more recovery time than usual;
Against the background of intoxication, the immune system is suppressed, as a result of which colds are frequent.

Symptoms of giardiasis in children

Adults have stronger immunity than children. Therefore, their disease can proceed for a long time without any clinical symptoms. While in children, the immune system is not so resistant to this kind of invasion, therefore, their symptoms of infection with giardiasis are indicated much more clearly and faster:

Stool disorders occur first of all, lamblia in the liver in children often provoke sudden diarrhea, which is also abruptly replaced by constipation for no apparent reason;
If the child did not suffer from a lack of appetite, and suddenly suddenly began to refuse to eat, this is also a reason to suspect that he has giardiasis;
Against the background of loss of appetite, there is a gradual loss in weight, it is insignificant, but stable;
Often after eating there is bloating, rumbling;
The child complains of nausea, sometimes vomiting may open.

All these deviations in the well-being of the child should be taken with special attention, especially if he has several symptoms of lamblia in the liver at once. If the disease is not diagnosed in time, it will turn into a chronic form, then the list of symptoms will be replenished with the following ailments:

Body temperature for a long time is kept at the level of 37.1-37.5 without decreasing or rising;
Pain in the right side;
The liver and spleen are in an enlarged state, when these organs are felt, pain is noted;
Lymph nodes also swell slightly;
There is bitterness in the mouth all the time;
A thick yellow coating appears on the child's tongue.

If giardiasis is not treated on time, the child may develop cholecystitis.

How is hepatic giardiasis diagnosed in adults?

How to identify lamblia in the liver? It is very difficult to identify this disease, since there are many symptoms of this disease, and they are extremely rarely manifested all at the same time. While individually, signs of hepatic giardiasis can be deciphered as symptoms of completely different diseases from the field of gastroenterology, neuralgia, dermatology and others.

Therefore, when examining the doctor, it is still worth paying special attention to signs such as pallor of the skin, plaque on the tongue, an increase in the size of the liver and pain in the right side. If all these symptoms are present all at once - a reason to send the patient to the diagnosis of giardiasis.

To make a final verdict, the doctor needs to get the result of several studies:

Ultrasound of the liver, gallbladder, studies for cholecystitis;
Blood test for the level of ROE and monocytes;
A biochemical blood test will also indicate the presence of giardiasis by a decrease in B-lymphocytes and albumin, while the alkaline phosphatase content rises sharply;
It will not be superfluous to conduct a study of feces for microflora;
Duodenal studies.

Duodenal examination is one of the most effective and informative in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, including all kinds of invasions. The procedure is quite complicated and unpleasant, but its result gives a complete picture of the ongoing disorders in the digestive organs.

By introducing a special tube through the mouth, the doctor can take bile and gastric juice for a sample. By their color and density, one can judge whether a person is sick with hepatic giardiasis.

All these studies are indirect, since they do not allow to detect the parasite itself, but only to identify signs pointing to it. For complete confidence, it is necessary to carry out direct methods:

Analysis of feces for cysts;
Analysis of feces for antigens.

In the first two cases, the patient's feces are required as a sample. After performing a series of manipulations with the sample, the laboratory assistant is able to detect not only traces of lamblia - antigens, but also the parasites themselves. It is extremely rare to find live lamblia in feces, but to examine their cysts is a very real task.

For the analysis to be as revealing as possible, the study should be carried out several times with an interval of a week. This is due to the fact that lamblia are not excreted from the body regularly. This happens in periods.

In order for the reliability to be maximized, it is necessary to check with the doctor in advance how the procedure for collecting the test substance takes place. There are certain rules. Which must be followed, otherwise the picture may not correspond to reality.

It is quite difficult to detect giardiasis in the intestine, and even more so in the liver, but it is possible. To obtain a more complete picture of the processes taking place in the patient's body, several studies are carried out at once. If you choose only one diagnostic method, you will not be able to compose a complete picture of the state of the body.

How to diagnose hepatic giardiasis in children?

In children, it is somewhat more difficult to diagnose hepatic giardiasis than in adults. So, a small child will not be able to conduct a duodenal study. Children from ten years of age are allowed to this type of diagnosis. For the examination of young children, they are limited to the study of feces and blood from a finger.

The difficulty lies in the fact that these analyzes do not allow to find out whether the child's liver is affected or Giardia live only in the baby's intestines.

Ultrasound examination of the liver will also not help detect hepatic giardiasis. In this way, you can only determine the deviation from the norm in the size of the organ.

The reasons for this condition may lie not only in lamblia. It is quite difficult to diagnose hepatic giardiasis in adults, in children it is almost impossible to do this, so in this matter you have to rely entirely on the experience of the doctor.

How to treat giardia in the liver?

To completely get rid of lamblia in the liver, you will need to take complex measures. Treatment is carried out in several stages.

Preparatory stage

How to treat giardia in the liver? For successful therapy of lamblia in the liver, you will have to be patient - this process is not fast and requires not only long-term administration of drugs, but also a special diet. So, at the first stage, it is required to prepare the body for further interventions.

Of the drugs at this time, they drink enzyme-containing ones, which normalize the functioning of the digestive system, drugs to increase immunity and enterosorbents, which remove intoxication from the high content of toxins.

In terms of nutrition at this time, special emphasis is placed on food containing proteins. Meals containing carbohydrates, especially simple ones, should be kept to a minimum at this time. As a result, the consumption of sugar, sweets, bread, muffins is completely excluded from the diet.

The priority is lean meat and fish, dairy products. Fatty foods should also be completely eliminated.

Second phase

At this stage, you should also adhere to a diet, the rules are the same. But antiparasitic drugs are added to the preparations. Depending on the age and degree of the disease, the doctor makes a choice in favor of one or another drug. So, adult patients are often prescribed Trichopol or Furazolidone. For children, you should choose "lighter" drugs, for example, McMiror.

Image: Trichopolus

Image: Furazolidone

Image: McMiror

Reception of enterosorbents at this stage should also be continued. Since after the death of lamblia, severe intoxication occurs, in order to reduce its negative effect, it is recommended to take laxatives that accelerate the elimination of waste products.

At this stage, the parasites must be completely eliminated from the body, both from the intestines and from the liver.

Stage three

At this time, the main efforts are devoted to eliminating defects caused by giardiasis, increasing immunity. Since not only the small intestine, but also the liver suffers from hepatic giardiasis, it takes a lot of time to eliminate all losses, restoring not only the functioning of the intestines, but also eliminating the resulting liver disorders.

At this stage, vitamin complexes are especially important; methods of traditional medicine should not be neglected. Special dietary intake is still important. Protein that helps to regenerate the intestinal mucosa, more porridge in water without oil and sugar, food in small portions, but at least 4-5 times a day. Only in this case the chances of a complete cure remain high enough.

During the entire therapy, the doctor prescribes tests. This is necessary in order to trace the dynamics of treatment. If the tests reveal the ineffectiveness of therapy, the doctor should revise the list of medications, and also pay attention to how accurately the patient follows the dietary rules.

Prevention of giardiasis

Most often, giardiasis is ill due to lack of personal hygiene. But a person who carefully monitors the cleanliness of his hands is not immune from this disease.

In order to minimize the likelihood of infection, when a disease is detected in one of the family members, the study on Giardia should be passed by everyone without exception.

Coming home from the street, you should immediately wash your hands with soap and water, you should also do the same before eating and after using the toilet. Since children are most susceptible to this disease, they should be taught the rules of personal hygiene from an early age;
Children's toys should be washed with disinfectants at least once a month;
Do not take objects from the floor into your mouth;
Thoroughly wash not only hands but also fruits and vegetables consumed raw.