# Tapeworms used as weight-loss product? Is this UL? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapeworms-used-as-weight-loss-product-is-this-ul/403889 "2007-05-13T01:52:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapeworms-used-as-weight-loss-product-is-this-ul/403889/1 "2007-05-13T01:52:23Z")
My high-school bio teacher (I think) once told a story about a weight-loss package that was marketed in the '50s. It was two pills. You took one pill, then the second two weeks later. It really worked. When someone figured out the first pill contained a tapeworm egg and the second pill was to kill the tapeworm, the product was immediately pulled from the market. Did this really happen? Is it UL? I can’t find anything about it on Snopes. Would this work? Would it be safe? ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapeworms-used-as-weight-loss-product-is-this-ul/403889/2 "2007-05-13T02:55:54Z")
Hmm, I sneakily thought I could get round the Snopes problem, because I remembered that the signer Maria Callas was reported in newspapers as using this, way back when, and I foolishly thought that searching Snopes for her might help. Alas, no. It still comes out as undetermined, and, in her case, likely about the tapeworm but not likely about taking it deliberately. > **[Tapeworm Diet Pills](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/as-the-worm-squirms/)** > > Legend claims women used to maintain slender figures by ingesting diet pills made from tapeworms. Huh. No further ahead, then. But I do get a cheap giggle out of someone with **Glutton** in their name posting this question. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapeworms-used-as-weight-loss-product-is-this-ul/403889/3 "2007-05-13T07:11:47Z")
I posted in another forum that tapeworms make ideal pets. They eat what you eat, go where you go, no need to buy special foods and no vetinary bills. :)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapeworms-used-as-weight-loss-product-is-this-ul/403889/4 "2007-05-13T11:17:35Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Would this work? Would it be safe? [/QUOTE] There’s a somewhat famous Japanese doctor, Koichiro Fujita, who swears by tapeworms. He’s written books on them, and keeps them as pets. And I mean, he swallows them and gives them names. He claims the benefits are that they prevent obesity and allergies. In the first case, by eating for you, and in the second, by keeping your imune system busy. I can’t find anything about the first claim, but he’s published at least one serious paper about the second: > **[Molecules of parasites as immunomodulatory drugs - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14965305/?dopt=AbstractPlus)** > > Parasite molecules offer unique advantages for the treatment of immunologicical disorders, and several candidate molecules have been shown to be effective. In our studies, it was shown that a factor inducing immunoglobulin E from filarial nematode... ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapeworms-used-as-weight-loss-product-is-this-ul/403889/5 "2007-05-13T11:43:26Z")
[QUOTE=jovan] There’s a somewhat famous Japanese doctor, Koichiro Fujita, who swears by tapeworms. He’s written books on them, and keeps them as pets. And I mean, he swallows them and gives them names. He claims the benefits are that they prevent obesity and allergies. In the first case, by eating for you, and in the second, by keeping your imune system busy. I can’t find anything about the first claim, but he’s published at least one serious paper about the second: > **[Molecules of parasites as immunomodulatory drugs - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14965305/?dopt=AbstractPlus)** > > Parasite molecules offer unique advantages for the treatment of immunologicical disorders, and several candidate molecules have been shown to be effective. In our studies, it was shown that a factor inducing immunoglobulin E from filarial nematode... [/QUOTE] Fucking hell :eek: ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapeworms-used-as-weight-loss-product-is-this-ul/403889/6 "2007-05-13T11:53:35Z")
Using tapeworms for weight control by jockeys was quite common through the 1950s. Although sometime, I think, in the late '40s it was banned. I am searching for a cite on the date. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapeworms-used-as-weight-loss-product-is-this-ul/403889/7 "2007-05-13T12:58:30Z")
Some researchers have claimed to have success treating IBD using tapeworms. The gut, according to them, evolved with tapeworms inside it and the symptoms of IBD are simply an over reaction of the gut caused by it trying to shed itself of a non-existant tapeworm. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapeworms-used-as-weight-loss-product-is-this-ul/403889/8 "2007-05-13T13:51:59Z")
What are the drawbacks, exactly, to a tapeworm that you know about? I add the “that you know about” because, of course, and undiagnosed tapeworm could lead to malnutrition if it lived off you long enough. But I’m wondering why limited tapeworm use to fight obesity is A Bad Thing. Considering the very real risks of obesity - everything from diabetes to heart disease to joint problems to quality of life - what’s so terrible about a tapeworm that makes it more terrible than all those things? I mean, parasites are oogy, sure. But so are lots of medical procedures.