10 ms·
Live worm found in Australian woman’s brain
- h2odragon 3y agooccasionally someone will push "therapeutic worms" as an idea, forex: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/helminth-therapy https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/helminth-therapy They rarely talk about what happens when the worms go their own way, as living things often do.
- secondcoming 3y ago'forex' is short for 'foreign exchange'
- everyone 3y agoIs that a site where they sell worms? Cus it wont load at all in EU.. Just get a "oops we cant conform to GDPR" page.
- zakki 3y agoThis is their first paragraphs: Helminth therapy, also known as helminthic therapy, is an experimental therapy in which people intentionally infect themselves with live helminth parasites. As helminths can alter a person’s immune response, some people believe that helminthic therapy may, one day, help doctors treat some autoimmune and allergic diseases.
- delfinom 3y agoYea I'll take mRNA therapy over some worms
- perilunar 3y agoI've never seen and article about 'therapeutic worms' that didn't include some discussion about the risks of worms, and indeed the article you linked to listed ten possible complications. There's almost always some comment about how we treat worms for good reasons, but maybe that comes at a cost.
- kortex 3y agoI've done a lot of literature review and there is no evidence hookworms enter the brain (TFA is about roundworms). Necator is associated with cognitive issues especially in the American South, but that's due to dozens or even hundreds of worms, not the 10-20 typically used for helminth therapy.
- evrydayhustling 3y agoFor HN purposes, should remove the clickbait "oh my God". Headline speaks for itself!
- 29athrowaway 3y agoI think in this case it is adequate.
- sbate1987 3y ago[dead]
- rat9988 3y agoI'd rather just keep the original title.
- nickthegreek 3y ago[flagged]
- tinus_hn 3y agoBecause some people think the downvote arrow is the disagree button. However, discussing voting behavior is typically boring and unwanted on the site.
- swores 3y ago"Some people" including both the founder (pg) and the main moderator (dang) of HN (and me too, though my opinion doesn't matter much outside the bounds of this comment). The thinking I've seen explained before - and personally agree with - is that it's better for people to be able to disagree with a downvote than to have shallow "I disagree" replies. edit: pg @ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117171 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117171 Although every time it gets discussed there are people on both sides of whether it's good or bad for downvoting to disagree to be encouraged, eg recently here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37251926 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37251926
- lyu07282 3y agoLucky that they got it out before ceremorphosis
- espositocode 3y agoI don't know, I hear it may grant special abilities.
- newfie_bullet 3y agoOf course it's Australia...
- throwaway894345 3y agoYeah, as if the venomous snakes, spiders, and even mammals weren't reason enough to be afraid of that continent! :)
- anotherevan 3y agoIn Australia, even the road signs will try and kill ya. https://www.9news.com.au/national/news-melbourne-tullamarine-dashcam-footage-shows-shocking-moments-a-freeway-sign-crushes-a-car/fe23a75a-d59c-4dd2-b392-4d122b753dd2 https://www.9news.com.au/national/news-melbourne-tullamarine...
- nerdponx 3y ago> You don’t want to be the first patient in the world with a roundworm found in pythons No kidding!
- novia 3y ago> researchers are exploring whether a preexisting medical condition that caused her to be immunocompromised could have led to the larvae taking hold. I really wish this bit of the article was better written! Are they finding out whether she was immunocompromised? Or are they investigating the role a known pre-existing immunocompromising condition may have played in the infection? I was reading the article the whole time waiting for a compromised immune system to be mentioned, and the one time that they did mention it, it was ambiguous!
- cqz 3y agoI think the Guardian article mixes this up slightly. In the linked journal article they describe how when she initially presented with her symptoms she was treated with prednisolone, causing the immunosupression. edit: and they note in the conclusion that the immunosuppression may be what allowed the migration to the brain
- novia 3y agoThank you for the clarification! I didn't even see the linked journal article. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/9/23-0351_article https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/9/23-0351_article
- sebastianconcpt 3y agoOh Jesus, poor woman. Fascinating case tho. I hope her brain can recover from the damage.
- m3kw9 3y agoWonder if the brain fog went away, couldn’t find it
- swores 3y agoThe paper linked to in the article doesn't go into detail on that, but does say "Six months after surgery (3 months after ceasing dexamethasone) [...] Neuropsychiatric symptoms had improved but persisted" https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/9/23-0351_article https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/9/23-0351_article
- m3kw9 3y agoThat’s what I’m here for, thanks for digging it out
- otterpro 3y agoI've heard other cases like this in Asia, where some people ate raw snake meat (ie sushi style), which was considered delicacies, and one man ended up with parasite in his lungs and was on TV news. Another case was in US where a boy ate pork that was not fully cooked and ended up with parasite in his brain. Since then, I'm very careful to make sure all pork are fully cooked (especially at barbeque).
- WeylandYutani 3y agoThis is why I prefer my meat well done.
- ideamotor 3y agoWtf
- leetrout 3y ago> in US where a boy ate pork that was not fully cooked and ended up with parasite in his brain Do you have a source? It is my understanding that pork in the US is very safe since the late 2000's (or maybe even earlier).
- mikequinlan 3y agoHere is one from the UK in 2019 https://news.sky.com/story/man-18-dies-from-tapeworm-larvae-in-his-brain-after-eating-pork-11681211 https://news.sky.com/story/man-18-dies-from-tapeworm-larvae-...
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- fretting2 3y agoAh another True Soul...
- freilanzer 3y agoAuthority.
- nazgulsenpai 3y agoShould probably ask around about getting that thing removed.
- vincnetas 3y agoAny Baldur Gates 3 references?
- anonyfox 3y agoHave an upvote, still waiting for the Xbox launch, though.
- heywoodlh 3y ago> They believe the patient was probably infected with the parasite directly from touching the native grass or after eating the greens. After reading this, it got me wondering how parasites actually get into the human body if not directly ingested, as that seems fairly straightforward. That led me to this interesting snippet[0]: > Parasites usually enter the body through the - Mouth - Skin > Parasites that enter through the mouth are swallowed and can remain in the intestine or burrow through the intestinal wall and invade other organs. Often parasites enter the mouth through fecal-oral transmission. > Some parasites can enter directly through the skin. Others are transmitted by insect bites. > Rarely, parasites are spread through blood transfusions, in transplanted organs, through injections with a needle previously used by an infected person, or from a pregnant woman to her fetus. Now, my remaining questions: how and why does a parasite navigate the body? For example, how did the parasite in this article likely begin in her digestive system and end up in the brain? Do they swim aggressively (yuck)? If so, does their destination matter to them? [0] https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/infections/parasitic-infections-an-overview/overview-of-parasitic-infections https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/infections/parasitic-infec...
- dosssman 3y agoThis reminded me of a Dr House episode where the patient somehow ingested tape worm eggs, which managed to make their way into the brain, thigh muscle etc... through blood, then hatch there. Looks like it is referred to as Neurocysticercosis [0]. The parasite does not necessarily chose where it might end up, so it is up to luck. The victim probably ingest a bunch of eggs, which will find their way into different parts of the body, with different level of survivability. The brain does look like a cosy place to survive. [0] https://www.who.int/news-room/facts-in-pictures/detail/neurocysticercosis https://www.who.int/news-room/facts-in-pictures/detail/neuro...
- springogeek 3y agoThe episode of House in question is, in fact, its pilot :) Very good show. Not sure how often they handled parasites, interestingly.
- rybosworld 3y agoStuff like this makes me wonder if I should deworm once a year just to be safe. In the U.S., the recommendation is that "healthy individuals do not need to deworm". But then I see stats from the CDC on infection rates. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0508-npi.html https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0508-npi.html - More than 300,000 people living in the United States are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease - At least 14 percent of the U.S. population has been exposed to Toxocara, the parasite that causes toxocariasis - 60 million U.S. citizens are infected with Toxoplasma Gondii - The Trichomonas parasite is extremely common, affecting 3.7 million people in the United States A healthy individual is far more likely to be asymptomatic if they do have a parasite infection. That makes me question the recommendation for healthy individuals to avoid deworming.
- appplication 3y agoUsually the recommendation to not undergo unnecessary medical action is because the action itself can be not great for you. Killing parasites can be difficult because, unlike most bacteria and viruses, parasites are eukaryotic (same as us). This means drugs designed to target parasites may also be likely to target our cells to some degree. Most of the time treatment is fine, but in some people the side effects can be quite severe. This is the root of the recommendation to not do so unless you know you have a reason to.
- arcticfox 3y agoOther countries recommend routine deworming. So it must be a fairly close call. And honestly I am very pro-science but the “do no harm” bias in medicine makes me fundamentally question a lot of the recommendations. If it was just slightly better to deworm, do you think they’d recommend it? And then face accusations after any side effects (even if it was statistically the right call to do).
- jabroni_salad 3y agoThose countries have very different risk factors. How many people in your community would you say do not have access to a plumbed toilet? clean water?
- 71a54xd 3y agoAlright, now I'm emailing my doctor to inquire about an annual regimen of Ivermectin! Most of my contact with soil / decomposing matter is just by turning my compost pile and casually farming black soldier fly larvae. Even though I wear two layers of gloves and a respirator when working around this it just seems like a good idea. Cook your meat and seafood folks!
- Jeff_Brown 3y agoAustralia has so much more than it's fair share of creatively hostile wildlife.
- jupp0r 3y agoThis reinforces my belief that everything in Australia is out to kill you at first opportunity.
- thrawa8387336 3y agoI grew up in the third world, upper class, and we would take antiparasites every year. Just in case. If you are eating undercooked/raw meat or fish and stuff, if you're eating at restaurants, etc... there's no reason not to. It blows my mind people don't disinfect, not just wash, produce in the US.
- pessimizer 3y agoWe bleach meat and irradiate it. Cooking it well is enough.
- cromka 3y agoJust wondering why wasn’t it noticed in a CT or MRI scan? Flesh too similar to that of a human Brain?
- joker_minmax 3y ago>infected with the parasite directly from touching the native grass Next time someone says "touch grass", I'll remember this, and say "No thanks, I don't want brain worms."
- ryanblakeley 3y ago> Ophidascaris robertsi is a roundworm usually found in pythons...the world-first case of the parasite being found in humans.
- solardev 3y agoThat is some next-level Baldur's Gate 3 cosplaying.
- tristanb 3y agoCue Ivermectin rush V2.0 ....
- user6723 3y ago[dead]
- wildylion 3y agoThe snake in the first picture of the article looks like it just realized, "OMG i can have little sneks inside of me too?"