 When you end up searching the internet for the origin of your digestive problems, very often you'll see people in the field of alternative medicine that seem to think that a high percentage of people in developed countries have parasites. But is this true? I myself have seen so many of my own patients come in thinking that parasites might be one of the issues and one of the reasons that they are having chronic GI symptoms that are not getting better. Now this video I want to share my own two cents from a TCM point of view as well as looking at the research. Hey guys, I'm Dr. Alex Hine, author of the health book Master of the Day and doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. Now before we jump in, there's two very important links right below this video. The first is for a free guide of mine, four daily rituals that can potentially help you add years of life with traditional Chinese medicine. It's based on a few practical as well as Taoist practices. The second is if you'd like to become a patient of mine locally in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine, you can reach out to my private practice with the link right below this video. So look, when you just do a Google search, will not only show that lots of influencers, people sharing their individual anecdotes, and even lots of alternative medicine people, whether they are licensed or not licensed, will approach GI problems from a parasite's angle. Now some of these parasitic cleanses range from 400 plus to $1,000. So I thought this was something that I should address because one, I'm a GI specialist and I see lots of this in my private practice every day. Two, I hear this nonsense all day long. Now first, let's jump into this research paper on common intestinal parasites. Let's jump right into the literature and see what we actually know to be true for a fact. So first and foremost, you probably have heard of pinworm. So even Macularis commonly referred to as pinworm. Now when this paper discusses the symptoms or disease secondary to this infection, direct quote, it is relatively innocuous with egg deposition causing perineal, perianal and vaginal irritation. So basically itching and irritation is one of the minor symptoms associated with this one. That doesn't sound like a lot of the people coming in that one don't have those symptoms, but two complain of, you know, bloating, gas, food allergies, that kind of thing. But let's look again even more. Now as someone who has hiked a lot of the Pacific Crest Trail as well as the Appalachian Trail, you will definitely see real people who have Giardia because we're drinking out of streams, right? But for the average day-to-day person drinking water out of their faucet in Kentucky or New York or San Francisco, is Giardia a real major factor? Let's jump in. So the clinical presentation of Giardia varies greatly. After an incubation period of one to two weeks, symptoms of gastrointestinal distress may develop, including nausea, vomiting, malaise, flatulence, cramping, diarrhea, statorea, weight loss. A history of gradual onset of a mild diarrhea helps differentiate Giardia or other parasite infections from bacterial etiologies. Symptoms last two to four weeks and significant weight loss are key findings that indicate this. Now chronic Giardia may follow an acute syndrome or percent without that. Chronic signs and symptoms such as loose stool, statorea, 10 to 20% loss in weight, malabsorption, malaise, fatigue and depression may wax and wane over many months if it is not treated. Most of the people coming in to see me that talk about bloating, gas, food allergies do not have these symptoms. Some people will, and in my profession there's a diagnosis called spleen chi deficiency, which is basically pancreatic enzyme deficiency, changes in stomach acid, maybe some SIBO, right? That fall into this bucket kind of diagnosis. But to see people lose this much weight is not that common, as well as intense nausea and vomiting with an acute onset, right? Acute onset is one of the key things here. So I don't see that that often. But let's go into one more here. The third one here is hookworm. Now direct quote, until the early 1900s and Americanis infestation was endemic in the southern United States and was only controlled after the widespread use of modern plumbing and footwear. So hookworm, like many of these parasitic infections that you see in developing countries, has been staved off or mostly eliminated by good hygienic practices like plumbing, or water purification, like hygiene practices required in restaurants and in food and in processing and in the markets that you buy your food from, etc. So lots of what has stayed basically a real threat to people's lives in developing countries, mostly, not always, mostly doesn't exist in modern countries or it is greatly reduced because of our hygienic practices. But many people still come in thinking that their chronic GI symptoms are due to parasites. So when we talk about bloating or food allergies and sensitivities or people who are having SIBO, these are more likely issues involving the pancreas, like digestive enzymes, the stomach, like those of stomach acid, the gallbladder, right, or even the small intestine. So issues with, for example, absorption of disaccharide. So people who have issues digesting starches and carbohydrates. In my opinion, unless you're living in a developing country or you're an outdoorsman or you hike to the PCT or the Appalachian Trail for three months. So this is one of the least accurate diagnoses for people who have chronic GI issues. I mean, there's a saying in medicine, horses before zebras. Start with the most obvious cause of a GI issue before claiming it's a parasite and having to do a parasite cleanse. And I know some people are going to say, well, you know, I did this parasite cleanse and I felt better or I saw this in my stool. Well, if you're taking the custom compounded Chinese formulas, I do, you're going to see something in your stool, which is remnant from those herbs or you're going to feel better as well, because it will kill off bad bacteria and it will improve your digestive enzymes. It will regulate the stomach acid. It will regulate hunger hormones. It will improve the functioning of the gallbladder. It will prevent malabsorption or help malabsorption, right? It will minimize gas. So just because a lot of these work doesn't mean that it's actually the reason for that. A lot of these herbs used in parasite cleanses are general digestive herbs in general through history. So my two cents, do you really have parasites as the origin of your GI issues? No, I don't think so. If you're watching this in a developed country, I think maybe some people will. But unless you're an avid outdoorsman or you're hiking trails or you're not eating clean food, I don't think that's going to be the main cause. And I treat this every single day, not from a this is a parasite point of view with great success using internal medicine, these TCM formulas. My two cents about our parasites causing your GI issues. Don't forget to check out those related links right below this video and I'll see you guys soon.