Do tapeworms suppress vomiting

[Mangetout]

A friend of mine once joked that the best cure for seasickness was to get a tapeworm, because tapeworms secrete some sort of anti-emetic chemical (presumably as a defence mechanism to prevent them being expelled from the host).

Is this true?

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

Can’t be. Unexplained vomiting is actually a symptom of tapeworm.

http://www.medic-planet.com/MP_article/internal_reference/tapeworm

Symptoms you are likely to notice

You may feel abdominal pain or diarrhea and excess gas after becoming infested with tapeworm. You may also experience nausea and vomiting. Anal itching or inflammation are other common symptoms. White, ribbonlike worm segments can sometimes be seen in the stool, clothing, or bedclothes. Hunger, fatigue, loss of appetite, and weight loss occur if the condition is not treated. Rarely other organs of the body, including the brain, can be affected. [italics mine]

Also,
http://www.sadap.org.za/edl/phc/8.10.asp
http://www.spcnetwork.com/mii/2000/001115.htm

which refers to the condition called “neurocysticersosis”, which is where the tapeworm eggs get into your brain. Seriously. Vomiting is a symptom.

[Redboss]

I read the title of this thread and I should have known what I was likely to find here.

More fool me, then.

Aghast,

Redboss