Trypanosoma Cruzi

nodolan

I have a good friend from Bolivia now living in Barcelona. He's 40.

He was diagnosed a year ago as having the parasite Trypanosoma Cruzi.

Over 16 million people in South/Latin America are reckoned to have it and over 60,000 die from it every year.

His English isn't great and my Spanish is worse but from what I can understand from him he received the anti-parasite drug for a month after it was first diagnosed. He gets a blood test every six months and that's it.

From what I understand (from Google and Wikipedia) the parasite never leaves your body and it causes serious illnesses and ultimately death.

He told me that the doctor never told him any of the long term complications caused by this parasite. Already he has terrible gastric problems - reflux acid and gas.

Research carried out over ten years ago showed that Cysteine Protease Inhibitors cured an experimental Trypanosoma cruzi infection but where this is at today I have no idea but this wasn't mentioned to him either.

So I have lots of questions: Do any of you know about this parasite? Do any of you know about the experimental cure?

More importantly in some ways - can anyone help me put together a diet for my friend to reduce his gastric problems as they are quite serious and also an embarrassment when in public.

Muchas gracias.

DrIndy

This is a very technical question which is best addressed by your friends Infectious Diseases consultant.

If this disease is caught before it causes irreperable harm and can be killed off at this point is the crux of your question.

Once chagas disease is established, then irreperable harm has occurred - but if caught early can be cured with anti-parasitic agents.

Best to advise your friend to ask more questions fully from the treating doctor.

nodolan

Hi DrIndy and many thanks for your reply.

The problem for my friend is that he went to Spain as a tourist with the hope of getting a job and being able to stay legally but he didn't get any work. He stayed in Spain illegally and was in the process of being deported when the parasite was discovered. Under Spanish law they can't deport him for medical/compassionate grounds so he's in a limbo where he can't leave (doesn't want to) and can't work.

The medical service that sees him only see him out of legal obligation and so are quite curt with him. He got a blood test two days ago and all they told him was that the parasite is still in his blood (after a year). His next test is February 5th 2010.

When you say "irreparable harm" what do you mean?

I've read quite a lot on the web but can't seem to be able to put it all together. It would seem that the harm has already started as he gets really bad gastric problems (for which it took them 6 months to give him some medication). I read that gastric problems are just the beginning and that ultimately he only has 10-15 years to live and that he will probably die from some kind of heart condition. Already he is very thin (emaciated) and it doesn't help that he has very little money so he doesn't eat very well which is why I was hoping to help him with a diet plan.

Many thanks for your time.

nodolan

Update:

For anyone interested in this disease (especially anyone traveling to Latin America) I've managed to put quite a lot of info together at this point.

There are three stages to Chagas - acute, indeterminate, chronic.

There are two paths the parasite can take - heart form and digestive form.

The digestive form can eventually end up 'branching out' into the heart form.

In the acute stage the infection can be symptomatic or asymptomatic - symptomatic is best as the parasite can usually be killed in the early stages of infection. Unfortunately the asymptomatic acute stage is quite common and this is when the parasite causes no obvious symptoms of infecting a person.

The indeterminate stage is so called because nothing may appear to happen for anywhere from 10 to 40 years but in the meantime the parasite has been embedding itself into the infected person.

The chronic stage is when the parasite's most destructive activity takes place. No one seems to know why it is suddenly 'triggered' at an arbitrary point in time, perhaps when the body's immune system has reached some kind of critical mass.

The chronic stage of the heart form looks a lot like chronic heart disease with shortness of breath, blood pressure issues etc. and it is usually fatal within a short space of time especially if untreated (as is usually the case in poorer societies).

The chronic stage of the digestive form looks like an ulcer issue followed by various swallowing, digestion and 'toilet' problems. If undiagnosed and untreated it can lead to either or both of two conditions: megaesophagus and/or megacolon - both of which can be fatal.

Effectively the parasite operates in such a way that it suppresses (destroys) the host's immune system (a lot like HIV, which incidentally people with Chagas are far more susceptible to contracting).

In the heart form it digs into muscle tissue and destroys the muscles and chambers of the heart.

In the digestive form it destroys the peristalsis muscles of the throat and intestines.

As far as my friend is concerned I discovered that he needs to eat food that is neither too hot nor too cold nor too spicy. When eating solids he needs to drink a lot of water and he's not allowed to eat within a couple of hours of going to bed as the food has a tendency to stay in his esophagus and to come back up while he is sleeping (he can literally choke on his last meal and as it is he suffers from constant throat infections due to food coming back up during the night).

After telling him to ask his doctor in Barcelona about all of this the doctor still hasn't told him anything and has told him not to be a drama queen - I kid you not!!

I've given my friend a colloidal silver throat spray which he swears has cleared up his throat within two days (combined with his new eating regime). I've also given him Oregano supplements (a powerful antioxidant and antibacterial herb) as well as Artemisia (Wormwood), Black Walnut and Pau D'arco supplements all of which have been shown to help treat parasitic infections (in fact Pau D'arco has been shown to kill the parasite in the acute symptomatic stage - better than the prescription drug nifurtimox and without the side effects).

All in all he says he feels a lot better and he's starting to put on weight.

http://www.plosntds.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0000488

http://doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=3702&cat=press-release

Approximately 10-15 million people in Latin America are infected with Chagas every year. It is estimated that 14,000 people die of the disease annually. Most Chagas patients are asymptomatic and the disease often goes undiagnosed, so the true scope of Chagas-related deaths is unknown.

http://doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/article.cfm?id=3696&cat=special-report


http://www.chagas-break-the-silence.com/