I read a very similar article not that long ago, and forwarded it to my dad who is a surgeon. He said that tapeworms are very common in developing nations, specially Asia and South America. In "99.9%" of the cases the eggs are digested or the cyst shows up in an organ causing relatively low damage with "easy" extraction possible. Unfortunately, some of those eggs/worms can find their way into the head.
His advice was to cook all meats (be it pork, steak, etc.) well, and to avoid eating raw/uncooked meat. Apparently it reduces the chances of eating a living egg. No more medium-rare burgers for me since then.
This pathology is NOT caught from eating pork. It can come from any food prepared by someone atypically shedding eggs (most likely someone from Latin America.) In fact you are more likely to get it from eating raw salad than cooked pork.
"But sometimes tapeworms take a wrong turn. Instead of going into a pig, the eggs end up in a human. This can occur if someone shedding tapeworm eggs contaminates food that other people then eat."
I find it interesting that, while we learn all of this in school here in Brazil people in developing countries have no idea about parasites. (but dont single out latinamerica - tapeworms are endemic in most of the developing world)
Anyway, if you are interested, it is also possible to get other types of tapeworm from other kinds of uncooked meat (like raw beef or sushi), although only the pork tapeworm is known to cause cysticercosis in humans.
Congress spends hundreds of billions bailing out banksters and auto unions, while easily solved issues like this are allowed to linger, destroying countless lives worldwide.
In epidemiology, an epidemic (επί (epi)- meaning "upon or above" and δήμος (demos)- meaning "people"), occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience.
>"The eggs are shed in the infected person’s feces. Pigs swallow these eggs accidentally as they rummage for food on the ground. When the parasite eggs reach a pig’s stomach, larvae hatch and burrow their way into the animal’s bloodstream. Eventually they end up lodged in small blood vessels, typically in the animal’s muscles. There they form cysts and wait until their host is eaten by a human. (Pork has to be undercooked for the tapeworms to complete their journey.)"
They link Wikipedia which is no more explicit:
>"They are infected by eating undercooked pork that contains viable cysticerci."
The larva has to burrow into the bloodstream to begin with. Maybe it just waits until it gets stuck somewhere, and then burrows into the surrounding tissue?
There is a BBC documentary called "Parasites" about the topic. It includes some cases of cysts and other larvae in the brain, and many more interesting cases of animals living inside humans.
As the writhing, teeming mass of mindworms swarmed over the outer perimeter, we saw the defenders recoil in horror. "Stay calm! Use your flame guns!" shouted the commander, but to no avail. It is well know that the Mind Worm Boil uses psychic terror to paralyze its prey, and then carefully implants ravenous larvae into the brains of its still-conscious victims. Even with the best weapons, only the most disciplined troops can resist this horrific attack.
The odds of a hacker in the US developing neurocysticercosis is approximately nil. If you would like to promote a slightly more relevant topic for your compadres, please consider upvoting my letter to a patient: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3982796
[+] [-] antr|14 years ago|reply
His advice was to cook all meats (be it pork, steak, etc.) well, and to avoid eating raw/uncooked meat. Apparently it reduces the chances of eating a living egg. No more medium-rare burgers for me since then.
[+] [-] OstiaAntica|14 years ago|reply
"But sometimes tapeworms take a wrong turn. Instead of going into a pig, the eggs end up in a human. This can occur if someone shedding tapeworm eggs contaminates food that other people then eat."
[+] [-] ufo|14 years ago|reply
Anyway, if you are interested, it is also possible to get other types of tapeworm from other kinds of uncooked meat (like raw beef or sushi), although only the pork tapeworm is known to cause cysticercosis in humans.
[+] [-] OstiaAntica|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bdunbar|14 years ago|reply
Sure, it's a tragedy.
Philosophical question - why should I pay my taxes to cure this condition 'worldwide'?
This isn't polio, this isn't the 18th century. We know how people get sick, we know how to prevent this problem. Everyone does.
This isn't something money can fix - this is a cultural problem.
[+] [-] brlewis|14 years ago|reply
In epidemiology, an epidemic (επί (epi)- meaning "upon or above" and δήμος (demos)- meaning "people"), occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience.
[+] [-] CodeCube|14 years ago|reply
I think I'll steer clear of the pork chops today.
[+] [-] pbhjpbhj|14 years ago|reply
>"The eggs are shed in the infected person’s feces. Pigs swallow these eggs accidentally as they rummage for food on the ground. When the parasite eggs reach a pig’s stomach, larvae hatch and burrow their way into the animal’s bloodstream. Eventually they end up lodged in small blood vessels, typically in the animal’s muscles. There they form cysts and wait until their host is eaten by a human. (Pork has to be undercooked for the tapeworms to complete their journey.)"
They link Wikipedia which is no more explicit:
>"They are infected by eating undercooked pork that contains viable cysticerci."
[+] [-] bryze|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tocomment|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Lexarius|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mietek|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yaix|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] liamondrop|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shaggyfrog|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] debacle|14 years ago|reply
This article was truly terrifying.
[+] [-] iharris|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dguaraglia|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] Spoom|14 years ago|reply
notes to cook pork a little beyond the recommended temperature in future
[+] [-] shimsham|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] earl|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bioli|14 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] idleloops|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] niels_olson|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ufo|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] niels_olson|14 years ago|reply