Is it better to die or live in misery, rather than do something icky?

[dropzone]

@Bryan Ekers

Shoulda read the fine print.

In 1972 we were going to an All-Volunteer Army, so, like in their ads today, the fine print was where they hid the part about risking ones life. And, like today, they no more needed to emphasize it, since it was in all the news, than they wanted to emphasize it, since getting killed can be seen as an argument against accepting a job offer, so I demurred when Sam suggested I might enjoy a couple years working for him. And today they don’t get to emphasize tawny beauties in silken dresses (or g-strings) and umbrella drinks. Tawny (maybe) beauties (one hopes) in black burqas in a country where alcohol sales are increasingly dangerous–it lacks some romance.

[ShelliBean]

@WhyNot

I once killed a thread dead by asking what the actual medical risks were to purposeful tapeworm ingestion for weight loss. Everyone was too busy going “eeeewwww! Gross!” and when I asked (as is my wont), “Well, why not?” not a single person responded.

Shit, if I could find a tapeworm and a doctor to monitor me, I’d do it. I’d even consider doing it without a doctor, to be honest. It’s not like I’m a likely candidate for starvation, living in the fattest country in the world.

I have had the same thought. My google info reveals that some tapeworms can migrate from the intestinal track and infest other parts of the body, including the CNS, causing seizures and other unpleasantness.

One thing I did see was that beef tapeworms sometimes infest people and the person doesn’t know until they pass worm portions through the anus causing what they called a “sensation” - I don’t know if I want to imagine that.
One thing that was brought up in the worm article was the potential for worm carriers to be food handlers. Although the article I read (okay, skimmed) dealt with tape worms, would other parasitic worms pose a public health risk if embraced by the public and possibly “out there” more? Do you want the guy working the sour cream station at Taco Bell to be a worm patient?

[scjas]

One advantage of hookworm for this kind of therapy quoted in all the research into them as a therapeutic agent that i have read is that they do not mis migrate like tapeworm and whipworm.

Addressing the idea of inadvertent infection of others by someone who has been treated by them consider this.

An infected individual passes hookworm embryos in stool. It takes eight to ten days under ideal conditions (warm, moist and shaded) for the embryos to molt twice to stage 2 infective larva (L2).

So, for a food handler to infect someone inadvertently with hookworm they would have to get their own excrement on their hand and it would have to remain there for over a week.

If your food handler practices hygiene like that hookworm is the least of your worries.

@ShelliBean

I have had the same thought. My google info reveals that some tapeworms can migrate from the intestinal track and infest other parts of the body, including the CNS, causing seizures and other unpleasantness.

One thing I did see was that beef tapeworms sometimes infest people and the person doesn’t know until they pass worm portions through the anus causing what they called a “sensation” - I don’t know if I want to imagine that.
One thing that was brought up in the worm article was the potential for worm carriers to be food handlers. Although the article I read (okay, skimmed) dealt with tape worms, would other parasitic worms pose a public health risk if embraced by the public and possibly “out there” more? Do you want the guy working the sour cream station at Taco Bell to be a worm patient?