4 ms·
There's a guy (Jasper Lawrence, who had a horrible allergy problem) had heard of a study where they were testing to see if allergies was related to parasites. H
by prometheus76 4y ago
There's a guy (Jasper Lawrence, who had a horrible allergy problem) had heard of a study where they were testing to see if allergies was related to parasites. He was rejected from the study, so, long story short, he ended up flying to northern Africa and walking around barefoot to get hookworm. He now monitors and manages his hookworm infection with low doses of anti-parasite medication, and he sells soil infected with hookworms so that you, too, can get infected by hookworm and reduce/eliminate your allergies. Oh, and his allergies are gone.
I read about it here: https://www.ksl.com/article/20838871/man-infects-self-with-hookworms-to-treat-severe-allergies https://www.ksl.com/article/20838871/man-infects-self-with-h...
But there are lots of stories and some studies on the subject as well. The original hypothesis was proposed in 1989 by David P Strachan. According to the theory, many modern diseases have gotten out of hand and are rapidly growing in industrialized western countries because of chlorinated drinking water, vaccines, antibiotics and the sterile environment of early childhood. Moreover, it is theorized that since we have become so good at preventing infections, we have upset the internal balance and ecology in our bodies. One missing element of hyper-clean and sterile environments is that our inflammatory responses do not function as they should. Parasites and bacteria play a symbiotic role in preserving our health.
- seraphsf 4y agoI know a person who contracted a transient parasite infection, possibly hookworm, while doing research in Africa and walking around barefoot. In the decade+ since, they’ve suffered terribly from debilitating and incurable auto-immune diseases brought on by the initial parasite infection. So, YMMV.
- prometheus76 4y agoI agree that caution is in order. The question above just reminded me of the story so I thought I'd pass it along because it was from 2012.
- noodles_nomore 4y agoHe originally posted his story on kuro5hin[1]. It's an interesting read. He was interested in the worm because, for its survival, it has evolved a mechanism to disable the host's immune system in a particular way that eliminates allergies. At the time he wrote that nobody knows how the worm does it. Now that we can do similar things with monoclonal antibodies, I wonder if the mechanism is similar. [1] http://web.archive.org/web/20151205143301/http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2006/4/30/91945/8971 http://web.archive.org/web/20151205143301/http://www.kuro5hi...
- woodruffw 4y agoPlease, for the love of all that is good and holy, do not give yourself hookworms.
- theonething 4y agoI get they are bad, but you seem to speak from experience, either yours or others. Out of curiosity, why not? What can happen?
- woodruffw 4y agoThe history of hookworms in the US is the history of millions of intellectually and physically stunted children and adults[1]. [1]: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/how-a-worm-gave-the-south-a-bad-name/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/how-a-worm-gave-the-so...
- gdudeman 4y agoThere is a great Radiolab show about both the South and modern research into hookworms. If you have 2-10 hookworms and eat a modern diet (higher in iron), you're probably going to be fine. If you have 30-50, you're going to have abdominal discomfort and some side effects. If you have insane allergies or autoimmune disease, the risk/reward seems pretty incredible. Worst case scenario if you're an adult with hookworms is you take some antibiotics and they go away. This https://twitter.com/jimmybernot/status/1354443837897388033 https://twitter.com/jimmybernot/status/1354443837897388033 is one person's story about participating in those studies.
- CodeBeater 4y agoI can only imagine how desperate he must have been. Truly debilitating levels of allergy.
- UberFly 4y ago"he sells soil infected with hookworms so that you, too, can get infected by hookworm" Well, when Fry ate the truck-stop egg-salad sandwich in a Futurama episode the worms he ingested really helped him, so sign me up!