In general, I remain very skeptical of the trend to "parasite cleanse" and cleanse all the things, but when someone actually has a confirmation of blastocystis sp. parasite colonizing their gut, how can we support that person with herbs? I have basic knowledge of common antifungal herbs such as wormwood, black walnut and clove. Would these be applicable? What other aspect of a formula would be called for?

The vast majority of people in developed countries do not have parasites (worms or amoebas), nor do people need to “cleanse”. In the US and Canada helminth infections (unless acquired elsewhere) are relatively rare. The exception is pinworms in children. Amoeba and amoeba-like infections are more common, but still a small percentage of the population. The most common amoebic infection is Giardia, followed by the amoeba-like Blastocystis hominus, Cryptospridium, Dientaoeba fragilus and Entamoeba histolytica. For these infections antiamoebic herbs such as Neem, Quassia, Artemisia annua, Pippali long Pepper, Myrrh or Black Walnut hulls can be used, they taste really bad !.

Yes I've been thinking about a potential project on the parasites & cleansing fad. Thanks David.

Hi David - on this topic, I wonder if you're familiar with Dr. Kevin Cahill (infectious disease specialist, parasitologist here in NYC). I ask b/c he does a scraping of the sigmoid colon to test for parasites, rather than a stool sample, and I have had several patients see him and all are found to have some parasite or combination or the other. (All had at some point traveled internationally). Just curious. I took am very skeptical of the trend to "cleanse parasites" for each and every person. But after learning about Dr. Cahill and finding that many more people than I would have imagined do test positive based on the sigmoid colon scraping. (full disclosure - including me! E.hystolitica, whipworm, trichuris trichiura - yes I have traveled internationally too)

No I am not familiar with his work, but looked him up. Most of his patients love him, a few think he is a fraud and there are some questions about the accuracy of his testing methods. Traveling internationally is not necessarily a risk factor for parasite infections, it depends on where you have gone. Laos, Bangladesh, Bolivia and other under developed countries with poor sanitation, yes, the UK, Germany, Japan, Singapore, no. I still do not think most people need parasite cleansing.