Lead
In spring and summer, people go out through the mountains, swamps, rivers and lakes and other humid places, often see an animal, it has a round head, there are some greenish spots on the body, and it is even more strange that this animal will climb on people's legs, feet and other parts, and then keep crawling on the human body.
This animal is what people usually call leeches, this animal likes to suck the blood of the human body, very annoying, and what is even more disgusting is that some people are afraid of accidentally swallowing it into their stomachs, in this case, will the leech still survive in the human body?
1. Characteristics of leeches.
Leech is a common parasite, people can often see it in rural areas, and rural areas due to the humid environment, especially suitable for the environment for leeches to grow, so leeches are more common in rural areas, and in many rural areas leeches are also sold in the market as a kind of Chinese herbal medicine.
The size of the leech is not very large, generally only about 5 centimeters in size, and the body shape of the leech looks very similar to the shell of a snail, which looks a little funny, so it is also called "water snail" or "leech snail" and other names.
The living habits of leeches are a very ancient form, it belongs to leeches, and in the leech population, people can often see two families of leeches, namely "leeches" and "leeches", and in these two families, leeches are only one of the genera.
In the mainland, there are many types of leeches, but the most common is the "crucian carp leech" produced in the mainland, its body length is generally about 5-12 cm, but it is different from other leeches in appearance, its body is relatively slender, and there are circles of rings on its body, which looks very good-looking.
Moreover, the intestinal wall in its digestive tract secretes more enzymes, so when people use it to scrape blood, there will be a tingling sensation, but its stinging sensation will gradually disappear, and then the blood in the human body will continue to be sucked away.
Leeches generally live in a humid environment, because they do not have excess water in their bodies, so they need to rely on water to maintain their lives, and leeches will also live in the water, leeches are in the water and underwater environment to find and suck blood, so people are vulnerable to leeches when they pass through the water.
Leech is a bloodsucking animal, it sucks blood on the human body through the body surface, and the saliva of the leech contains a substance that can be inhibited, so the saliva of the leech can also flow to the water with the blood in the human body, and then kill the bacteria and other harmful substances in the water to reduce the harm of aquatic organisms to the human body.
However, leeches may also cause certain harm to human health, some leeches parasitize on the surface of the human body when sucking blood, due to the long time of sucking, it will lead to the phenomenon of ischemia in the human body, and will also cause allergic reactions and other symptoms.
2. Can leeches survive in the human body.
Some people are worried that when leeches parasitize on the surface of the human body and suck blood, they accidentally swallow it into their stomachs, so will the leeches still survive in the human body?
In fact, this concern is unnecessary, because even if the leech enters the human body, it cannot survive in the human body at all, and no matter how tenacious its vitality is, it will parasitize on the surface of the human body.
Leeches cannot survive in the human body for two main reasons, one is the way leeches survive, and the other is the physiological characteristics of leeches.
Leech is an organism that relies on the body surface for respiration, so the demand for oxygen is also very high, once it does not get enough oxygen, it will die immediately, and leeches also need to be in a moist and suitable temperature environment to survive.
In addition, another point is that leeches have breathing tubes outside their bodies and no real skin, so when the breathing tubes enter the human body, they are easily damaged, resulting in leeches being unable to breathe normally and eventually dying due to lack of oxygen.
Therefore, leeches cannot parasitize in the human body, but can only parasitize on the surface of the human body, and attach themselves to the surface for a long time to suck blood.
But leeches still have a certain harm, because leeches like a warm environment, once the leech crawls into the human nasal cavity or throat, these two parts are warm for the leech, and the leech will also parasitize in these two parts for a long time.
Because leeches live in the human body for a very long time, up to 20 years or even longer, people need to be more vigilant about leeches as a parasitic animal, and of course, they should also strengthen their own hygiene awareness.
3. Children are more susceptible to leeches.
In the process of growth and development, children are not very clear about their surroundings, and their awareness of their own hygiene is not very serious, so children are more vulnerable to leeches.
In the process of children playing, they often come into contact with some wild water sources, in these wild water sources, it is easy to parasitize leeches, so in the process of children playing, parents must pay attention not to let children contact wild water sources.
In addition, another point is that in the children's eating habits, they often eat some wild fruits picked back from the wild, in the wild fruits, it is also easy to parasitize leeches, so parents must pay attention to cleaning the ingredients when preparing food for children, and do not let children eat ingredients with parasites.
Nowadays, with the acceleration of urbanization in the mainland, many people who originally lived in rural areas have moved to cities, so the problem of leeches in rural areas may gradually decrease, but we should not take it lightly, we need to strengthen our hygiene awareness at all times, and then guard against leeches as a parasite.
epilogue
As a parasitic phenomenon, the vitality and reproductive ability of leeches are still worth studying, and may be helpful in the study of some parasitic organisms, and may even bring some new value to the field of biology.
In the interaction between humans and the natural world, there are not only some large organisms, but also some microscopic organisms, although these microscopic organisms are inconspicuous, but they have a role to be underestimated, and people should conduct more in-depth research on biodiversity and ecological balance.
At the same time, as a living organism, leeches can also arouse people's thinking about biology, medicine and other fields, make people more familiar with biological structure, learn more scientific knowledge, and help human beings better coexist in harmony with various creatures in nature.