# Do tapeworms suppress vomiting

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tapeworms-suppress-vomiting/64979>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 10, 2001, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tapeworms-suppress-vomiting/64979 "2001-05-10T11:24:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tapeworms-suppress-vomiting/64979/1 "2001-05-10T11:24:29Z")

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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?

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tapeworms-suppress-vomiting/64979/2 "2001-05-10T13:44:56Z")

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

[http://www.medic-planet.com/MP\_article/internal\_reference/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.sadap.org.za/edl/phc/8.10.asp)  
[http://www.spcnetwork.com/mii/2000/001115.htm](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.

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**Author:** ![Redboss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tapeworms-suppress-vomiting/64979/3 "2001-05-11T07:49:58Z")

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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