Altered communication of the gut-brain axis has been linked to behavioral disorders, mood disturbances, depression and anxiety, as well as issues with learning and memory. As pinworms are nocturnal, their night time activity results in restlessness, itching, irritation and an overall poor sleep quality.
Pinworm infections were associated with the increased risk in anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and sleep disorders, respectively.
Pinworm infection may cause: Itching around the anal area, difficulty sleeping and irritability. If it is a severe infection, symptoms may include: nervousness.
Low-grade, persistent symptoms are the ones most likely to be dismissed as insignificant. This is unfortunate, as long term symptoms like dairy sensitivity, anxiety, frequent headaches and overall tiredness are frequently the only symptoms of a parasitic infection.
Pinworm infection (called enterobiasis or oxyuriasis) causes itching around the anus which can lead to difficulty sleeping and restlessness. Symptoms are caused by the female pinworm laying her eggs.
As pinworms are nocturnal, their night time activity results in restlessness, itching, irritation and an overall poor sleep quality. Insufficient and unrestful sleep is well known for its negative effects on children's moods and behavior – significantly attributing to poor cognition, learning and academic performance.
Latent toxoplasmosis aggravates anxiety- and depressive-like behaviour and suggest a role of gene-environment interactions in the behavioural response to the parasite.
But it was recently shown that the gut microbes that break down food can directly affect the production of another neurotransmitter (serotonin) in the colon and blood, which can then in turn affect communicative, anxiety-like and nerve-related (sensorimotor) behaviours.
Among people with parasitic infection, 58.2% had a mental illness compared to 41.8% of uninfected people with mental illnesses and the risk of an individual developing a mental illness was found to increase 4-fold when presenting with a parasitic infection.
The most common symptoms of pinworms are extreme itching in the anal/vaginal area, difficulty sleeping, and irritability but other symptoms that are important to be aware of are nervousness, restlessness, loss of appetite, insomnia, poor concentration, weight loss, sweet cravings, teeth grinding, mood swings, bed ...
Symptoms of pinworm
Pinworm infections often produce no symptoms but, when they occur, symptoms can include: itchy bottom, especially at night. reduced appetite. feeling mildly unwell.
Some people feel itching around the anus or vagina. The itching may become intense, interfere with sleep, and make you irritable. Your health care provider can diagnose pinworm infection by finding the eggs.
Symptoms of pinworm infection may include: Itching of the anal or vaginal area. Insomnia, irritability, teeth grinding and restlessness. Occasional stomach pain and nausea.
It is especially active at night or early morning. Rarely, the pinworm is seen on the surface of a stool. The pinworm's secretions are a strong skin irritant and cause the itching.
If left untreated, the intense itching and scratching associated with these infections will result in secondary bacterial infections. Some of these may be difficult to treat. Untreated people can continue to infect other people.
The inflammation caused by parasite infections affects the brain and CNS via the blood brain barrier, activation of the vagus nerve and immune cells. An individual's genetics also play a key role in the susceptibility to parasite infections and the prediction of depression.
These can present with diverse clinical manifestations, including seizures, focal deficits, mass effect, and intracranial hypertension, and can also cause complications such as vasculitis, stroke, hydrocephalus, and others.
Parasites may alter the host's behavior by infecting the host's central nervous system, or by altering its neurochemical communication (studied in neuroparasitology).
These three infections are usually treated with antihelminthic drugs, such as albendazole, mebendazole, praziquantel, and pyrantel pamoate. But in echinococcosis and coenurosis, cysts must often be removed surgically.
A lesser known fact is that an unbalanced gut microbiome has consequences for your mood because bacteria can also influence anxiety and stress by their activities in the gut.
Delusional parasitosis is a psychiatric condition where people have the mistaken belief that they are parasitized by bugs, worms, or other creatures.
How long does pinworms last? The life cycle of a pinworm is 4 to 6 weeks. Without treatment, infestation will continue as long as fresh eggs are being swallowed, unless a person develops immunity to pinworms, which is unusual before age 15.
The key is to break the 6-week cycle of pinworm reinfection by killing any live pinworms and preventing the ingestion of eggs. A diagnosis should be confirmed before treating with medications. Medications kill only the adult worms and have no effect on developing eggs and larvae.
The larvae get into tissues such as muscle and brain, and form cysts there (these are called cysticerci). When cysts are found in the brain, the condition is called neurocysticercosis.