What are the treatments for brain cysticercosis

Brain cysticercosis is common among young people. The main cause is usually that they eat some food containing worm eggs, which enter the brain after various digestion processes in the body and cause a brain disease. After suffering from this disease, patients often feel symptoms such as headache and general weakness. If not treated in time, it may also cause movement disorders. It can be seen that brain cysticercosis is very harmful to the human body. So what is the best method to treat brain cysticercosis? Let us learn about it together.

Cerebral cysticercosis is a stubborn intracranial disease transmitted by parasites (mainly Polycystic suum). This disease accounts for more than 80% of cysticercosis. It is caused by oral ingestion of pork crimson worm eggs, which develop into cysticercus, penetrate the intestinal wall through the digestive tract and enter the mesenteric veins, and then reach the meninges, brain parenchyma and cerebral ventricles through the systemic circulation. It can be divided into brain parenchymal type, ventricular type, meningeal type and mixed type. After suffering from this disease, the brain tissue and brain centers are severely damaged, causing headaches, general weakness, limb movement disorders, and the most serious symptoms are secondary epilepsy, blurred vision, and even blindness.

1. Medication

(1) Praziquantel is a broad-spectrum anti-helminth drug that also has a good therapeutic effect on cysticercosis. After taking the medicine, the cysticercosis may swell, degenerate and necrotize, leading to inflammatory and allergic reactions in the brain tissue around the cysticercosis. Some patients may also experience varying degrees of cerebral edema, increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure and cell count, and in severe cases even intracranial pressure crisis.

(2) Albendazole is also a broad-spectrum anti-helminth drug. Common toxic and side effects include skin itching, urticaria, dizziness, fever, epileptic seizures and increased intracranial pressure.

(3) Common toxic and side effects of mebendazole include abdominal pain, diarrhea, skin itching and headache. In order to reduce the allergic reaction caused by the large-scale death of cysticercosis in the body during anti-cysticercosis treatment, it is generally started with a small dose and gradually increased. When symptoms of increased intracranial pressure appear, dehydration drugs such as mannitol should be used promptly for treatment, and steroid hormones should be used as appropriate. If severe intracranial hypertension occurs, in addition to promptly stopping anti-cysticercosis drugs and dehydration and anti-allergic treatment, subtemporalis decompression can also be applied to prevent the crisis of increased intracranial pressure.

2. Surgery

Patients diagnosed with ventricular type should undergo surgical treatment. Secondly, surgical treatment can also be considered for patients with persistently increased intracranial pressure and very localized lesions confirmed by neurological signs and CT.

3. Treatment of insect repellent

For those who still have red worm parasites in their intestines, they should undergo anti-red worm treatment to prevent themselves from being infected again. The commonly used drug is Niclosamide, which should be chewed and swallowed all at once. A laxative should be given 3 to 4 hours after taking the medicine to expel the segments and eggs.