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Doctors suspected man had brain cancer. He had worms
- thelastgallon 4mo agoSounds like a Dr. House episode.
- omsta 4mo agoThe first one specifically: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_(House) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_(House)
- sva_ 4mo ago> The finding surprised the doctors since tapeworms aren’t endemic to Spain and he said he hadn’t traveled. However, the man may have been exposed during his work. Until 10-years prior, when he retired, he had worked in construction, often working alongside people who had migrated from regions where pork tapeworms (Taenia solium) are endemic. The parasitic worms can spread through the fecal-oral route. His doctors speculated his infection might have been a rare case of cryptic transmission from sharing meals and bathrooms with his coworkers, one of whom apparently had a tapeworm infection. yikes
- dlcarrier 4mo agoThat's pretty much the only way norovirus spreads, and it's common enough to kill ~200,000 people a year.
- htx80nerd 4mo ago[flagged]
- vkou 4mo agoWhere did you/your ancestors migrate from, and did any of them do any work at any point?
- VaderAi 4mo ago[flagged]
- romanusrome 4mo ago[dead]
- eschulz 4mo agoMoral of the story, eating shit and undercooked meat come with risks.
- snootypoot 4mo ago[flagged]
- aaron695 4mo ago[dead]
- avadodin 4mo agoThe Taenia genus —among many other pork parasites— is —or used to be— endemic in the whole Iberian peninsula and all ethnic Spaniards eat raw pork meat. I don't even know which mystery non–Spaniard dark–skins the doctor is trying to blame here.
- ramon156 4mo agoBut actually, it was lupus
- sourcegrift 4mo agoAnd the throat incision clip
- tamimio 4mo agoOk, and what happened to the man after? Did they remove it? Was he ok and back to normal or forever damaged?
- throawayonthe 4mo ago> NCC can be serious, causing seizures, significant neurological deficits, cognitive decline, stroke, and other problems. But it can also be asymptomatic. The severity depends on where in the brain the worms settle. Luckily for the man, the effects were relatively mild. Doctors prescribed him two anti-parasitic drugs, and he recovered. and here is the actual case report: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/32/7/26-0587_article https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/32/7/26-0587_article > We treated the patient successfully with albendazole (400 mg 2×/d) and praziquantel (1,200 mg 3×/d), alongside dexamethasone taper, without complications.
- tamimio 4mo agoThanks and glade he made it!
- busymom0 4mo agoDo the worms disappear after these drugs? Or they just die and are left in the brain?
- snootypoot 4mo agothey slowly decay and the immune system removes the remains. it can cause a toxicity shock called the herxheimer effect, the body often has symptoms when removing decaying foreign matter and the stored toxins they release. often parasite decomposition results in a sudden release of heavy metals and other things which accumulate in parasites. people try to use binding agents to aid in detoxing during this time to minimize fever and joint swelling and other signs of severe inflammation.
- mhb 4mo agoWhy did they use CT before MRI?
- bdcravens 4mo agoPresumably what they had available. Since MRI machines (and qualified technicians) are much more expensive, it's not uncommon for smaller facilities to rely on mobile MRIs which aren't on-site every day.
- woadwarrior01 4mo agoThis is a big fear of mine. I have a course of albendazole once every year just for this. It is de facto over the counter in India. I bought enough to last 4 years, the last time I was there.
- aurareturn 4mo agoDo you take it even if you don't have any symptoms?
- woadwarrior01 4mo agoYes. 400mg prophylactic dose, once every year.
- nchmy 4mo agoYeah, I live in Central America now. 7 years ago after a month of subtle... Issues... and and a bunch of weight loss, I finally discovered an 8 inch worm in my poop after taking some albendazol. Since then, I take it every few months. There's really no risk as it is barely absorbed into your system - it just stays in the intestines and paralyzes (doesn't kill) the worms, they loosen their grip, so to speak, and fall out. I also give it regularly to my dogs even when they aren't showing symptoms. If you have more... violent... symptoms, it's likely bacteria etc rather than worms. Secnidazol is what you want for that - single dose and youre done. Most doctors prescribe metronidazol because they don't know anything - it is something like 3 pills a day for a week, and bacteria have high resistance to it. More expensive, more hassle, less effective. I also give Secnidazol to my dogs. Albendazol and Secnidazol are essentially free here at any pharmacy.
- tristor 4mo agoI have often thought it might be a wise idea to do some form of prophylactic course against parasitic infections given my extensive travels, but this isn't something that's generally recommended here in the US and I've yet to meet a doctor who would be willing to prescribe deworming without evidence of an active infection. Is this something that's common in India?
- retinaros 4mo agoif the worms are in the brain the man is likely not fine and won't ever be like before
- dlcarrier 4mo agoHalf the time, there aren't any symptoms at all: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4621219/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4621219/
- retinaros 4mo agoI guess the symptoms might be super hard to identify. llike a cognitive decline on some functions.
- dlcarrier 4mo agoMost of the time it's seizures, with headaches the second most common symptoms. Cognitive decline is a distant third and relatively rare. Thru don't consume brain tissue or even live very long in the brain. The biggest problem is that cysts form around them, which can apply pressure.
- tim-tday 4mo agoThe brain is remarkably good at recovering from injury and mapping functions around damaged areas. There have been dozens of reported cases of massive one time injuries that people are able to recover from. Kill the worms and I bet he makes a full recovery.
- btach 4mo agoSaw something like this in one ER I worked at years ago. Guy in his 50's was brought in for seizures. Don't remember exactly where he came from, but it was some place where tapeworms from pigs was not unheard of. CT of head showed numerous cysts in his brain. I remember seeing the spots in his head being a bit smaller than in the imagery in the article and more spread out. Anyway he was diagnosed with neurocysticercosis and admitted. No idea what happened after, often I didn't get follow-up in the ER setting. Anyway, that... was memorable. Never ate undercooked pork before that, but after... never ever will.