Ingesting a Tapeworm.

[Jim_B]

Is there any advantage to ingesting a tapeworm today? I am not planning on doing it myself. And I am not saying anyone else should. It’s a purely hypothetical question.

I don’t have a cite. But I saw an old ad for ‘sterilized’ tapeworms from the 19th century that basically said that you could eat all you wanted if you did.

Also (sorry again, no cite) I saw this story on Ripley’s Believe It or Not in the 80’s that talked about this German guy who swallowed a tapeworm and then basically drank contaminated stuff that would kill you and me. He even drank from the contaminated Rhine river. Yikes!

Could you really do all this if you swallowed a tapeworm? And please don’t do this. It’s just a harmless question.

:):):)

[Ambivalid]

You are bored today, huh?

[burpo_the_wonder_mutt]

I’m gonna be sick.

[burpo_the_wonder_mutt]

I suppose we should try to give a factual answer.

If the TW ate all your food/drank all your water intake for you, wouldn’t you starve/de-hydrate to death? Wouldn’t Mr. TW swell up and give you a nice intestinal blockage?

That’s all I got.

[CookingWithGas]

There are some gullible folks who think that eating tapeworms is a good weight-loss program. However, such ingestion is fraught with risks. Why anyone thinks infecting themselves with a parasite to lose weight is somehow better than just eating less is beyond me. Having 30-foot parasites in you is dangerous and can even be fatal.

So, no–no advantage.

[markn_1]

A tapeworm is not a black hole. I think no matter how much the cute little critter eats, most of the nutrients you eat are still going to be processed by your body.

I would read the Wikipedia page on tapeworm-related medical conditions before you decide to do this.

[bob_2]

I remember reading somewhere that you only ever get one tapeworm. This fact led some people who were going to a place where they were endemic to acquire a sterilized worm before they left on the principle that they would not then be hosting a nasty foreign one.

[DrDeth]

Ok, say the worm eats 5% of what you eat, and turns it into worm. You havent lost any weight, just a longer worm. Science!

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

Per UpToDate:

Most infections are asymptomatic, but symptoms become more common as the parasite burden increases. Heavy infections with >1000 worms can occur and are often associated with crampy abdominal pain, diarrhea, anorexia, fatigue, and pruritus ani. Dizziness, irritability, sleep disturbance, and seizures have also been described. A peripheral blood eosinophilia of 5 to 10 percent may be observed.

Malignant transformation of the dwarf tapeworm has been described in an HIV-infected patient. Further study of host-parasite interactions is needed to better understand the potential relationships between infection and cancer.

[burpo_the_wonder_mutt]

I need a good leeching.

[Beckdawrek]

^^^or maybe a less invasive ‘burping’, would suit.

[Melbourne]

There was a serious suggestion that parasites modulated immune response, leading to suppression of auto-immune disease and suppression of allergies.

As far as I remember, that was about 20 years ago, it seemed to work for some people, but the overall feeling I got was that even people in areas where worms were endemic still got auto-immune diseases and suffered from allergies.

I haven’t heard of any more recent research (but partly because I don’t read that stuff any more), which seems to suggest that there didn’t turn out to be much in it.

[bob_2]

@burpo_the_wonder_mutt

I need a good leeching.

Here you go: https://www.leech.com/

[burpo_the_wonder_mutt]

@bob_2

Here you go: https://www.leech.com/

Oh, thank God there are leech tweezers available.
I’m gonna be sick.

[Colophon]

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

Per UpToDate:

Malignant transformation of the dwarf tapeworm has been described

Wait, what?

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

@Colophon

Wait, what?

Weird looking cancer cells appeared in the lungs and lymph nodes of an HIV patient. On further study, the cells contained DNA from H. nana tapeworms. Subsequent comparative deep sequencing identified H. nana structural genomic variants that are compatible with mutations described in cancer. Invasion of human tissue by abnormal, proliferating, genetically altered tapeworm cells is a novel disease mechanism that links infection and cancer.

[Wesley_Clark]

There is helminthic therapy. It involves intentionally ingesting parasitic worms because for people with autoimmune disorders, it causes the immune system to redirect and focus on fighting the worms instead of fighting the host body.

Helminthic therapy

[Yllaria]

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

Weird looking cancer cells appeared in the lungs and lymph nodes of an HIV patient. On further study, the cells contained DNA from H. nana tapeworms. Subsequent comparative deep sequencing identified H. nana structural genomic variants that are compatible with mutations described in cancer. Invasion of human tissue by abnormal, proliferating, genetically altered tapeworm cells is a novel disease mechanism that links infection and cancer.

I would not have guessed that’s what malignant transformation meant. That is an odd thing to ponder.

[Inigo_Montoya]

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

Weird looking cancer cells appeared in the lungs and lymph nodes of an HIV patient. On further study, the cells contained DNA from H. nana tapeworms. Subsequent comparative deep sequencing identified H. nana structural genomic variants that are compatible with mutations described in cancer. Invasion of human tissue by abnormal, proliferating, genetically altered tapeworm cells is a novel disease mechanism that links infection and cancer.

Does that mean what I think it means?

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

@Inigo_Montoya

Does that mean what I think it means?

What do you think it means?