Flatworms are also known as flatworms.
A flatworm is an organism lacking vertebrae, also known as a flatworm , which has the characteristic of being acoelomate, protostomous and triblastic. Most of this clan is parasitic and hermaphrodite and does not have a respiratory or circulatory system.
On the other hand, it must be said that many of the twenty thousand species of flatworms (a word that derives from the word Platyhelminthes ) do not have a digestive system or an anus, since the digestive tube functions as a gastrovascular cavity: that is, it carries out the digestive functions and distributes nutrients.
Characteristics of flatworms
Flatworms usually inhabit humid river, marine and terrestrial environments. Depending on their particularities, they can also be segmented into four classes: the turbellarians ( Turbellaria ), the monogeneous ( Monogenea ), the cestodes ( Cestoda ) and the trematodes ( Trematoda ). These last three groups are parasites and lack heads.
Turbellarians are free-living, carnivorous and dig for food . Monogeneans are parasites of fish and amphibians , while cestodes and trematodes can live in various mammals , including humans .
It should be noted that flatworms do not have locomotor appendages; Therefore, they move thanks to the vibrations of their ciliated epithelium .
There are about 20,000 species of flatworms.
Impact on human beings
In the case of flatworms that can affect humans, they are also known as tapeworms or tapeworms . Human beings may be contaminated by them through various means, such as ingesting certain products (vegetables, fruits or raw or undercooked pork ) that contain Taenia eggs.
Among the most frequent symptoms experienced by citizens who have this flatworm are weight loss, difficulty falling asleep, nausea , mild gastrointestinal pain, nervousness or notable lack of appetite.
Being affected by these tapeworms brings with it various consequences, the most serious being various brain injuries, sight damage such as blindness and also seizures of different scope. In this case, it is best to go to a medical professional who will establish the necessary treatment to put an end to this infection .
However, it must be emphasized that, as with many other diseases or pathologies, there are a series of home remedies for the same purpose. Specifically, in this case it is recommended to eat fresh fruit such as strawberries and also other foods such as onion , nuts or garlic.
The fundamental advice that must be followed to prevent being affected by this animal is not to eat raw meat or meat that is not properly cooked, always wash your hands after going to the bathroom and also keep them in perfect care and washing after having been handling them. pork or beef.
McConnell's experiments with flatworms
Flatworms allowed James McConnell to carry out different experiments with the intention of proving that there is a chemical basis for memory . To do this, he combined a bright light with an electric shock and studied the reaction of the flatworms. After several tests, he found that the flatworms began to react to light in the same way as if they had been subjected to an electric shock.
The experiment went further: after cutting the worms in two and allowing them to regenerate, it was possible to see how both halves developed the reaction to light and electric shock.