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Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People's Brains

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Re: Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People's Brains

#31

Post by fein »

shaggyfrog wrote: post #30
liamondrop wrote: post #5

* puts down sandwich * backs away slowly * forward article to office, so they understand what I must now do * reaches for flamethrower...

As the writhing, teeming mass of mindworms swarmed over the outer perimeter, we saw the defenders recoil in horror. "Stay calm! Use your flame guns!" shouted the commander, but to no avail. It is well know that the Mind Worm Boil uses psychic terror to paralyze its prey, and then carefully implants ravenous larvae into the brains of its still-conscious victims. Even with the best weapons, only the most disciplined tr…

So I take it that this means we all have to align ourselves with Gaia's Stepdaughters?

Re: Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People's Brains

#32

Post by ufo »

niels_olson wrote: post #10

The odds of a hacker in the US developing neurocysticercosis is approximately nil. If you would like to promote a slightly more relevant topic for your compadres, please consider upvoting my letter to a patient: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3982796

Did it ever happen to you that there are also hackers outside the US?

Re: Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People's Brains

#33

Post by bdunbar »

OstiaAntica wrote: post #19

Congress spends hundreds of billions bailing out banksters and auto unions, while easily solved issues like this are allowed to linger, destroying countless lives worldwide.

destroying countless lives worldwide.

Sure, it's a tragedy.

Philosophical question - why should I pay my taxes to cure this condition 'worldwide'?

This isn't polio, this isn't the 18th century. We know how people get sick, we know how to prevent this problem. Everyone does.

This isn't something money can fix - this is a cultural problem.

Re: Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People's Brains

#34

Post by Turing_Machine »

udp wrote: post #9
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You missed it, though it wasn't explicit: >" The eggs are shed in the infected person’s feces. Pigs swallow these eggs accidentally as they rummage for food on the ground. When the parasite eggs reach a pig’s stomach, larvae hatch and burrow their way into the animal’s bloodstream. Eventually they end up lodged in small blood vessels, typically in the animal’s muscles. There they form cysts and wait until their host…

Even the thought of eating cooked cysts is enough to put me off pork.

I'd recommend avoiding this, then:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_Defect_Action_Levels

Re: Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People's Brains

#35

Post by ufo »

OstiaAntica wrote: post #27

This pathology is NOT caught from eating pork. It can come from any food prepared by someone atypically shedding eggs (most likely someone from Latin America.) In fact you are more likely to get it from eating raw salad than cooked pork. "But sometimes tapeworms take a wrong turn. Instead of going into a pig, the eggs end up in a human. This can occur if someone shedding tapeworm eggs contaminates food that other peo…

I find it interesting that, while we learn all of this in school here in Brazil people in developing countries have no idea about parasites. (but dont single out latinamerica - tapeworms are endemic in most of the developing world)

Anyway, if you are interested, it is also possible to get other types of tapeworm from other kinds of uncooked meat (like raw beef or sushi), although only the pork tapeworm is known to cause cysticercosis in humans.

Re: Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People's Brains

#36

Post by ufo »

Lexarius wrote: post #28
tocomment wrote: post #22

Why wouldn't the blood-brain barrier prevent this?

The larva has to burrow into the bloodstream to begin with. Maybe it just waits until it gets stuck somewhere, and then burrows into the surrounding tissue?

The blood brain barrier is for microscopic stuff.

The tapeworm larvae, on the other hand, is a big multicelular mofo and it can burrow itself into brain tissue just like it can burrow itself into muscle/pork.

Re: Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People's Brains

#37

Post by ufo »

bryze wrote: post #7
CodeCube wrote: post #3

Good god, that is horrifying. Did I miss it, or did the article not say how one contracts this? I think I'll steer clear of the pork chops today.

Seems like avoiding undercooked pork and fecal contamination should do it.

Undercooked pork gives you tapeworms. You get cysts from fecal contamination.

Re: Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People's Brains

#38

Post by eli_gottlieb »

bdunbar wrote: post #33
OstiaAntica wrote: post #19

Congress spends hundreds of billions bailing out banksters and auto unions, while easily solved issues like this are allowed to linger, destroying countless lives worldwide.

destroying countless lives worldwide. Sure, it's a tragedy. Philosophical question - why should I pay my taxes to cure this condition 'worldwide'? This isn't polio, this isn't the 18th century. We know how people get sick, we know how to prevent this problem. Everyone does. This isn't something money can fix - this is a cultural problem.

Umm... actually... the reappearance of such "Third World problems" as tapeworms, bed-bugs, and other parasites in America has become a major issue. Congress does need to allocate money towards keeping our nation parasite-free.

Re: Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People's Brains

#39

Post by bdunbar »

eli_gottlieb wrote: post #38
bdunbar wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

destroying countless lives worldwide. Sure, it's a tragedy. Philosophical question - why should I pay my taxes to cure this condition 'worldwide'? This isn't polio, this isn't the 18th century. We know how people get sick, we know how to prevent this problem. Everyone does. This isn't something money can fix - this is a cultural problem.

Umm... actually... the reappearance of such "Third World problems" as tapeworms, bed-bugs, and other parasites in America has become a major issue. Congress does need to allocate money towards keeping our nation parasite-free.

I disagree it's become a major issue. A problem, yes, but exaggerated by better reporting and invasive media.

We don't need to throw money at it, and certainly not at the Federal level. Because this isn't some kind of new thing, it's a people that have gotten lazy about public health and forgotten how awful epidemics can be.

It is - just like tape worm in the brain, a cultural problem, not something that money can fix.

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