# Giardia/IBS/Carb Malabsorption



## elssa5 (Jan 8, 2004)

GIARDIA LAMBLIA"Almost 50% of those infected will have a sugar intolerance, especially to lactose and sucrose. "Giardia lamblia is a protozoan flagellate that causes the disease Giardiasis. In Europe, the organism is sometimes called Lamblia intestinalis. At one time, the infection was known as "beaver fever" because it was thought that only the beaver harbored the cyst. Because of its teardrop shape and two nuclei, the organism has a distinct appearance under a microscope, resembling a human face looking back at you. It also has four flagella for locomotion, and exists in both the trophozoite and cyst stages. Giardia is a tiny organism but only one cyst is enough to cause disease. About 8,000 trophozoites can fit on the head of a pin. They are not all killed with chlorination, but can be with iodine-based solutions. Boiling also kills them, but the water must be a rolling boil for at least ten minutes at sea level. At higher elevations, boiling requires and additional five minutes. Understandably, there is not much left of the water after that length of time. Filtering is the most reliable means, but not all filters are created equal. The filter size cannot be greater than three microns, and it must state that giardia will be filtered out. Washing vegetables and fruits must also be taken into account when using tap water. The cyst is able to exist for long periods outside the body, remaining on such inanimate objects as toys, and regaining entrance to a human body through the oral route. Since many children do not readily show symptoms of any illness, they unwittingly spread the disease. More often than not, infection is spread when the cysts lodge under fingernails after a diaper change. In this manner, infection can easily be passed from one infant to another in day care centers, or from one person to another in homes. In some day care centers, more than 90% of the children were infected. The infection rate is increasing so rapidly that it may now be the most frequently found parasite. Since giardia cysts are resistant to stomach acid destruction, it passes on through to the intestines. There, it reverts to the trophozoite stage and multiplies by dividing (just a little mathematical humor!). Incubation is five to twenty-five days, with most feeling sick within a week. The trophozoites adhere only to the upper small intestine, and do not spread to other parts of the body. By adhering to this part of the intestine, its numbers prevent the digestion and assimilation of foods, causing gastroenteritis. Another result of such interference is with the absorption of fats, causing them to be eliminated in the feces. This may sound like a wonderful idea for dieting, but instead, it is destructive. Fat soluble nutrients are then unable to be assimilated because the fats are unable to help carry them into the system. Therefore, deficiencies soon develop. Damage to the intestinal villi can persist long after the infection is controlled. Problems with chronic iron deficiency, anemia, vitamins A and B12 deficiencies, low serum calcium, lack of folic acid, fat malabsorption, and lactose intolerance occur with prolonged infections. Infectiousness can last a year or as long as the cysts are excreted. The expelled cysts can remain infectious in a moist environment for several months. Signs of giardia infection include the following: gastroenteritis and diarrhea that produce dark, greasy, foul-smelling stools; bloating; nausea; weight loss; and abdominal cramping. Chills, low-grade fever, belching, and a headache may also be present, along with considerable amounts of discomfort and flatulence. After an acute episode, symptoms will diminish, leaving intermittent diarrhea and constipation, abdominal distention, and a persistent foul-smelling gas. The giardia can sometimes attach to the bile ducts of the liver, creating symptoms mimicking gall bladder disease. In addition, it is one of the many microscopic organisms that can affect behavior, as well as physical, function. Chronic fatigue and depression are symptomatic of long-standing giardiasis. In small children and the elderly, severe dehydration caused by diarrhea and vomiting can be fatal. It can also be misdiagnosed as celiac disease or failure to thrive syndrome. Symptoms can last for two to three weeks, with gradual improvement. The infection can become chronic, however, with intermittent bouts of diarrhea, accompanied by anorexia, weight loss, and nausea. With or without treatment, the organism is difficult to eliminate. Individuals most at risk are those with type A blood, who lack sufficient hydrochloric acid, or who have a history combating Candida albicans. (See Avoiding and Treating Parasites.) Almost 50% of those infected will have a sugar intolerance, especially to lactose and sucrose. Children diagnosed with celiac disease or ADD may be infected with this parasite, and, by treating them for it, all the other symptoms disappear, in most cases. It is the most common intestinal protozoal infection in the US, with municipal water often the source of infection. Outbreaks of giardiasis are doubling every five years, having infected at least eighteen million people in the US alone. Because of the number of ignored or misdiagnosed cases (giardiasis often being diagnosed as irritable bowel or chronic fatigue syndrome), many researchers feel that the actual number of giardiasis cases is astronomical. Other estimates are that 90% of the documented cases of water-borne giardia come from surface water contaminated by animal feces. Divers often become infected with giardia as well as Entamoeba histolytica.


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## Trudyg (Aug 16, 2002)

What is your point? A diagnosis of IBS means all other possible causes of our diarrhea have been ruled out. Do you plan to tell us how it applies to our current situation?


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## elssa5 (Jan 8, 2004)

The point is that the underlying cause of IBS symptoms may often be a parasite or overgrowth of bacteria and/or yeast. Stool tests are notorious for missing these organisms, especially parasites. Giardia, in particular, is extremly hard to diagnose. The parasites become imbedded in the upper intestines and are not excreted on a regular basis. Even when they are, the standard lab is not well trained in detecting them, so you really need to send the sample to a parasitology lab. The other point is that all these organisms thrive on sugar. At the same time, they are flattening the villi and interfering with enzyme production and hindering our ability to digest sugar. All doctors know how hard it is to diagnose Giardia. In fact, my Oxford M.D. (a mainstrain physician) said she will often treat someone for Giardia even if the stool tests are negative, if all the symptoms and other tests are consistent with Giardia. Giardia has increased in this country in recent years due to the increase in importation of food from countries where Giardia is epidemic. I saw many doctors before I was finally diagnosed with Giardia, and most called my problem "IBS". Doctors need to be better educated about parasites. The book "Guess What Came To Dinner" explains this all better than I ever could.


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## Trudyg (Aug 16, 2002)

What's a mainstrain physician?


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## HereIam (Mar 1, 2001)

ElssaI had giardia, and I can tell you it don't look anything like IBS when it is in its acute stage. This article gives the nitty-gritty result of an infection with giardia, all of which is terribly irrelevant. Giardia is not something you can live with and not know about, it is so violent. It is treatable, and if the treatment is done properly the giardia is wiped out 100%. I can't imagine this notion of someone living with giardia as an underlying cause of other things. It causes symptoms that aren't sleeping or in the background, they are violent and at the time feel life threatening.


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## elssa5 (Jan 8, 2004)

I had giardia, and I can tell you it don't look anything like IBS when it is in its acute stage. When I first got it, the symptoms were indeed very severe in that acute stage. After a few weeks it moved on to the chronic stage with less severe D. It can go on for years in this chronic stage. I've been told and read that Giardia is very resistant to Flagyl now, so it's very hard to treat.


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## elssa5 (Jan 8, 2004)

"Symptoms can last for two to three weeks, with gradual improvement. The infection can become chronic, however, with intermittent bouts of diarrhea, accompanied by anorexia, weight loss, and nausea. With or without treatment, the organism is difficult to eliminate. Individuals most at risk are those with type A blood, who lack sufficient hydrochloric acid, or who have a history combating Candida albicans. (See Avoiding and Treating Parasites.) Almost 50% of those infected will have a sugar intolerance, especially to lactose and sucrose"


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

FYICenters for Disease Control and PreventionNational Center for Infectious DiseasesDivision of Parasitic Diseases http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/gi...sht_giardia.htm This can cause "red flags" symptoms, unrelated to IBS. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/gi...sht_giardia.htm giardiasis may mimic SOME symptoms of IBS but it is not IBS. They do not know entirely what causes IBS, but they seem to be getting somewhere as of late." chronic infections lead to a malabsorption syndrome and severe weight loss." http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap22.html


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## HereIam (Mar 1, 2001)

Elssa, the point I was trying to make and I didn't state it very well, is that when I was in the acute stage of giardia, there was no way I could have gotten through it without seeing a doctor or dashing to an emergency room. So, it would have been difficult for it to become a chronic problem. My case included alot of bloody D and pain worse than I've ever experienced. Obviously, some people's acute stages aren't that severe and they get through it and move onto the chronic stage.


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