Since I creeped you all out with parasites yesterday, I’ll try and make it up today with anti-parasitic drugs. No, I am not giving free samples, but I AM explaining a little bit of how they work. Just as good, right? Right, don’t argue.
Ectoparasites like fleas and ticks can be repelled and eradicated fairly simply. They’re so small, you can easily make their environment too toxic for them to survive (either via topical or oral medication). Hell, to a certain degree, a garlic and onion heavy diet will repel blood-sucking parasites. Doesn’t take a lot, those sucky suckers are finicky suckers, sucker. Helminths, however, require drugs as sophisticated as those used in viral or bacterial infections. Considering that certain worms like tapeworm can be many feet long, creating a toxic enough environment for a helminth could be too toxic for you too. So antihelminthics will paralyze or increase permeability of the worm’s plasma membrane. Of course, there are drugs that will destroy on contact, but these are to be used with caution. This is strong shit.
Want more? Talk to me later. Got a busy week so we’ll see how much I update. Should be back to normal by Friday, though.
Source
–. 2008. “Antihelminthic Drugs”. Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. The Gale Group, Inc.