I urge you to read this article in full if you:

• Have any digestive problems whatsoever (bloating, wind, diarrhea, “IBS” etc.)
• Have had traveler’s diarrhea in the past
• Have experienced food poisoning in the past
• Experience right upper quadrant pain (right shoulder, shoulder blade, etc.)
• Experience cravings, mood and low energy problems as well as digestive symptoms.

Let’s call this one “E. histo” – it makes life much easier as its full name is a tongue-twister!

This was actually the first parasite my functional medicine mentor told me about, because he’d picked it up when he was traveling in Thailand.

He’d had severe vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping and all the other hallmark symptoms of an acute attack with this parasite.

A bit like my story with H. pylori even though his initial severe symptoms went away, he didn’t quite feel the same after the “attack”.

Several years later, he finally discovered the parasite was still there, and re-treated it with some very strong medications.

His blood sugar swings, sleep problems and other symptoms went away after just a couple of days of taking the medications, and all this after a few years of struggling!

E. histo was actually the first tiny protozoan parasite to be discovered, back in 1873.

The largest burden of disease caused by E. histolytica infection is in Central and South America, Africa and the Indian subcontinent.

To give you an idea of the scale of this parasite, during 1987-1988 in Mexico there were an estimated 1 million cases and 1216 deaths due to E. histo infection.

Travelers can pick-up E. histo very easily – they don’t jump out of the plane when you fly home from places like Africa, South East Asia and Central America.

In one study of 2700 German travelers returning from tropical areas demonstrated a 4% incidence of E. histolytica – E. dispar infection.

E. histo lifecycle

E. histo has two stages to its lifecycle – an infective cyst and an invasive trophozoite form.

The cyst is passed in bowel movements and can survive in a moist environment for several weeks.

You can get infected with E. histo due to the consumption of contaminated food or water.

The cysts “hatch” in the intestine and then colonize and/or invade the large bowel.

Symptoms of E. histolytica infection

Infections can be very nasty indeed because it’s what we call an “invasive” parasite. In other words, it “invades” the cells lining the intestine, causing extreme inflammation and flask-shaped ulcers in some people.

It has the potential to cause colitis and liver abscesses. It is also the cause of “amebic dysentery” in which a lot of water can be lost, leading to severe dehydration.

E. histo can also migrate up into the liver where it can cause abscesses. For reasons unknown, amebic liver abscess is 7-12% -fold more common in men than in women.

E. histo can be carried for years without symptoms but eople found to be colonized with E. histo are at risk for future development of invasive disease months to even years later (even if they are not experiencing symptoms at the time of diagnosis).

Medically diagnosed. E. histo symptoms:

• Amebic colitis
• AmebomaToxic megacolon
• Peritonitis
• Cutaneous amebiasis
• Extraintestinal amebiasis (E. histolytica only)
• Amebic liver abscess
• Splenic abscess
• Brain abscess

Dysentery/colitis are the major complications of infection with this parasite.

In a patient with dysentery (diarrhea that contains visible or microscopic blood), or severe diarrhea and vomiting, it is vital to differentiate other bad bugs such as Shigella, Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli) in order to get the most effective treatment.

Common digestive and non-digestive symptoms from milder, chronic E. histo infections include:

• “IBS”
• Diarrhoea
• Abdominal pain
• Weight loss
• Cravings
• Mood problems
• Fatigue
• Sleep problems

Liver abscess symptoms

Typically, signs of amebic liver abscess include:

• Right upper quadrant pain (right shoulder / shoulder blade)
• Jaundice
• Abdominal tenderness
• Diarrhea
• Weight loss
• Coughing
• Anemia
• Fever of 38.5-39.5°C
• Leukocytosis (lab detection)
• Abnormal serum transaminases and alkaline phosphatase (lab detection)

These are serious complications and need the attention of a doctor.

Rare E. histo symptoms and presentations

Cases of amebiasis involving the abdominal wall, face, vulva and vagina, and penis have been reported

Yuk!

Confusion over symptoms

As you’ve seen, Giardia can cause a lot of common, every day symptoms.

But so can other things, like the food you eat (e.g. gluten, soy, cow’s milk), and other bad bugs such as different parasites, bacteria and Candida.

Thus, you can’t possibly know what’s causing your individual symptoms unless you take action to change your diet and get a comprehensive digestive health work-up.

Of course, I’m biased, but I wouldn’t be here teaching you this information had I not gone through the Digestive MOT process myself way back in 2007 with my functional medicine doctor.

And my functional medicine doctor probably wouldn’t have become so knowledgeable about parasites had he not had such as hard time with E. histo.

Order a Digestive Health MOT

If you’re struggling with your digestive health, take action today.

If you have right upper quadrant pain, this may indicate a liver problem – perhaps an abscess, but definitely not guaranteed.

Remember that your digestive system is the gateway to the rest of your body and it’s going to be very tough for you to sustain an acceptable level of health (and quality of life) if your digestive system isn’t working properly.

Let me hold your hand through a simple but powerful program to help you restore proper digestion and all the benefits it brings.

Click here for details of my Digestive Health MOT program.