Product Description

Explains what parasites are, how they are spread, describes the symptoms of parasitic diseases, and discusses medical treatments and prevention.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #205940 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A nutrition director for the American Academy of Nutrition and the author of the bestseller Beyond Pritikin , Gittleman has exhaustively studied the parasite world, particularly its relation to human health and nutrition. Although she tackles the subject of parasitic illnesses and their diagnosis, treatment and prevention with knowledge and a credible background, her book offers in ten chapters what could have been done in a single long but concise one. In a hit-and-run style, the author touches on a specific subject, be it day care centers, household pets, or travel, only to drop it and repeat the information in another section of the book. This repetition, combined with constant footnotes, disrupts and clutters a reading of the book. Readers without some background in clinical parasitology may also have a hard time staying with Gittleman through the technical section that serves as a reference guide to the individual parasites. The chapter on prevention provides the most accessible information. There, the author gives clear and usable instructions on avoiding parasite-induced illnesses via good personal hygiene, proper infant and child care, sensible sexual practices, sanitary animal care, careful travel practices and safe water usage and food handling. The book wraps up with an easy-to-understand glossary, although it lacks necessary pronunciation symbols, and a thorough, but meant-for-health-professionals, appendix on drug treatment of parasitic infections.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Ann Louise Gittleman, N.D., M.S., C.N.S., is a pioneer in dietary, environmental, and women's health issues. She is the author of numerous books, including Eat Fat, Lost Weight.

Customer Reviews

What you don't know could make you sick - or worse
Ann Louise Gittleman is doing all she can to raise awareness of the danger of parasites in our lives; it is, she argues, a silent epidemic. We've all heard of outbreaks of E. coli and the like, but such disturbing stories quickly fade away from the public consciousness. Most people don't want to think about all the really nasty things that might be oozing their way throughout their bodies. Gittleman clearly makes the case, however, that parasites are a growing danger, and the fact that many medical professionals aren't especially knowledgeable about the subject only exacerbates the problem. Few medical students take a single course on parasitology, she says, because such courses are usually found under tropical diseases - and we in the United States still tend to think that parasites only affect the lives of those in impoverished and/or tropical nations. Gittleman's objective in writing this book (now available in this revised version) is to educate everyone, layman and medical professional alike, on the extent of the parasite threat. By doing so, she is able to offer advice and guidance on protecting yourself from the myriad of invisible threats parasites pose.

First, Gittleman lays out a strong case for the greatly increased prevalence of parasites in today's America, pointing to a number of factors such as the great increase in international travel, the contamination of water supplies, the increased use of antibiotics, the ever-growing use of day-care centers (which one expert dubbed the open sewers of the 20th century), and the dramatic number of household pets interacting with men, women, and especially children. She then describes some of the symptoms of the different kinds of parasitic conditions. In many cases, she says, these symptoms closely mirror the symptoms of other diseases and usually go undiscovered - thus, you have patients continuing to suffer with afflictions while being treated for conditions they may not even have. Gittleman's guide to parasites provides summary details (albeit somewhat technical ones) about all of the varying types of parasites - fluke worms, tapeworms, assorted amoebae, and a number of dastardly little critters I had never heard of. She provides information designed to help you determine whether you might have a parasite yourself (relying significantly on lifestyle history), discusses the most modern testing methods out there, and discusses treatment options. If you exhibit symptoms that do not go away and have your physician somewhat baffled, she encourages you to consider the possibility of a parasite and discuss it with your doctor. I was amazed to learn that parasites can basically settle in all over your body, not just in your gastrointestinal tract.

The most important part of the book, though, has to do with prevention and protection. With parasites so prevalent in our daily lives, it is important to build up our resistance to them. Gittleman goes into detail about the problems inherent in water and food preparation (especially undercooking), the risks posed by even the most beloved of pets (the next time your four-legged best friend gives you some sugar, you could possibly end up swallowing egg-carrying fleas), and the health risks surrounding young children. As you might suspect, activities such as eating dirt and moving your hands back and forth between your backside and your mouth are not conducive to good, pesticide-free health (it's amazing that so many of us actually survive long enough to grow up given the general nastiness that defines babyhood and early childhood).

The book does get slightly technical from time to time, and Gittleman does engage in the art of redundancy occasionally, but this is certainly a valuable and effective book. It makes you think about a danger you have probably never contemplated before, explodes the myth that parasites only cause problems in Third World countries, and helps you take steps to better protect you and your loved ones from the pain and suffering parasites are more than capable on inflicting upon you.

parasite paranoia
I enjoyed the information in this book. It points out the numerous ways we are getting parasites inside our bodies, what they are doing to us, and how they affect us in so many ways.

What the author doesn't realize, however, that you can get rid of these parasites using minerals. Take one tablespoon of copper in the mornings, and in the afternoon you will take one tablespoon of zinc and one tablespoon of silver. These minerals must be angstrom sized, in liquid form, or it wont be effective. Copper kills parasites and makes them want to leave the body. Zinc and silver escort the dead carcasses out of the body for a complete "cleanse". It works as I've done this and I know many other people who have done this. Parasites have NO place in your bodies. They are destructive and you don't want them around!

Guess What Came to Dinner Saved My Life
All I can say is God Bless Ann Louise Gittleman. If it were not for this book that I brought with me into my physician's office, I would have never discovered that I had a chronic case of giardia. My doctor was dismissing my symptoms for the longest time and finally when I found Ann Louise's books, I realized that a parasitic infection can be misdiagnosed as flu, IBS, or even gall bladder disease. Now that I have taken the prescribed medication and am using Ann Louise's suggested natural herbs from Uni Key as a follow up, I am a new person. This book should be Mandatory reading for every high school student, college student and health minded individual in America.