The idea that parasites (and “other microbe-y things”) cause a variety of deleterious symptoms and ailments has gotten popular in recent years. “Candida overgrowth” has been a big part of this, but there has also been lots of publicity about supposedly hidden parasites that Doctors Don’t Know Anything About and the role of the gut biome (the latter is an interesting field of study, but has also been source of a lot of fervid speculation and outright nonsense).
Here’s another example of taking legitimate science and blowing it up far beyond what evidence will support.
*"As an example of this scare tactic, I found a disturbing “factoid” on the website of Ann Louise Gittleman, who calls herself the First Lady of Nutrition (although I think that Michelle Obama is way ahead of her!). ALG held one of today’s Microbiome Summit talks called “Parasites May be the Hidden Cause of Your Health Issues”…
In her talk, ALG mentioned that a large part of the US population are infected by parasites. She mentioned that her mentor parasitologist estimated that 1970’s this number was 8 out of 10 Americans. She also claimed that most stool tests won’t detect these parasites. They are so hidden inside our guts, she said, that a regular stool test will easily miss them. But they are there! Anyone with GI problems, diarrhea, constipation, gas, GERD, or even sleep problems, Crohn’s Disease, asthma, arthritis and pretty much anything else you can think of, all these symptoms, she says, are an indication that you are infected with parasites. She even went on to say that these parasites are easier to detect “4 days before and after a full moon.”*
The you-are-likely-to-be-infected-with-parasites line sells not only books, but various “cleanses” and other bogus treatments to eliminate the nonexistent parasites.*
Once more we have a call for anecdotes. Yes, I’ve taken a probiotic supplement (kefir). If it did anything for my digestive tract (not to mention mood) I didn’t notice it.
*there is a subset of people convinced that parasites are their problem, who push their doctors not only to do uncalled-for testing, but to prescribe potent antiparasitic drugs as well. When they can’t get these drugs, some will even buy them over-the-counter at veterinary supply stores and take them. They also share their mental illness with like-minded people online. “Morgellons disease” sufferers are among this group.