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Did you know that walking barefoot in the Southern US was how most people contracted hookworm? At is height an estimated 40% of the population in certain region
by jacobrast 25d ago
Did you know that walking barefoot in the Southern US was how most people contracted hookworm? At is height an estimated 40% of the population in certain regions had the parasite which was know to cause a "mental haze". Some historians attribute the disease (again, contracted by walking barefoot outdoors) to have caused the stereotype of the "lazy slow southerner" [1].
Do you feel walking barefoot is worth the risk of catching this and other potentially hazardous diseases?
[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...
- criddell 25d agoBut also, hookworm infections are known to suppress allergies and asthma, help inflammatory bowl disease, and improve insulin resistance in people with type 2 diabetes.
- malfist 25d agoJust because your immune system is fighting for your life against a parasite and doesn't have time for side quests doesn't make contracting a parasite good for you
- Brian_K_White 25d agoJust because you call something a parasite doesn't make it bad for you. It might be bad, or good, or some of both, or depend on other factors at different times. If you count cells and genes instead of mass, every human hosts more non-human life than human. Call them parasites and delete them and die.
- malfist 25d agoCalling a symbiot a parasite does not make it a parasite.
- krageon 25d agoGiven that you know these terms you must be aware we have invented different words for organisms that have mixed effects (positive and negative) on the host organism. Parasite, commensalist and symbiote. If you don't want folks who know these words to argue with you you should not use the wrong ones.
- malfist 25d agoFeel free to find an example of scientific literature referring to hookworms as either commensalist or symbiot in humans.
- Brian_K_White 24d agoFeel free to explain how the labels change the facts. Examples of beneficial effects have already been cited from "scientific literature". The argument was only to point out that just because labels are black & white doesn't mean life is black & white, and treating a label as reality is stupid. No one went so far as to say "everyone should go get hookworm". That would also be a stupid thing to say, and more to the point: a stupid thing to think anyone was saying.
- criddell 24d agoI believe the theory is the exact opposite. A hookworm calms the host's immune system.
- nomadpenguin 25d agoYou can get most of the benefits of walking barefoot without the hookworm by wearing a good pair of barefoot shoes. I personally love my Xero Prios. If you want the full experience at the expense of looking like a freak, you can get those Vibram Five Fingers toe shoes.
- cortesoft 25d agoWhy would that give you the benefits of walking barefoot? If the point is to pick up bacteria, shoes are shoes. It doesn't matter if the toes are separated or not.
- tredre3 25d agoGP said the benefits of walking barefoot are "feels good, increases your connection to your surroundings, and slows you down." In that context it seems like barefoot shoes would still work. They are essentially foot condoms, so you get most of the same sensation without the potential ickiness.
- AlecSchueler 25d agoThose are other benefits but the literal topic at hand--and the reason going barefoot was brought up in the first place--is to have contact with the earth.
- LargoLasskhyfv 25d agoOne could simply use ballet shoes, instead of that overpriced stuff. They come in different styles, colors, materials, are foldable(ususally), and can be considered disposable.
- outime 25d agoIt still squeezes your toes into a narrow toe box, which is pretty much the opposite of barefoot shoes.
- kuerbel 25d agoOne could wear barefoot shoes. Not that they are exactly the same as walking barefoot. They are still shoes! But a good compromise.
- IncreasePosts 25d agoThose people were walking barefoot near an unsanitary latrine. Is there a lot of human feces where you might walk barefoot? If not, you don't really have to worry about hook worm. How did the southern US solve this issue? They just started building their latrines deeper.
- moron4hire 25d agoI don't live in San Francisco, but I've heard stories...
- infecto 25d agoAre you walking on human feces a lot? Hook work was a problem because of a huge lack of sanitary conditions. Less about being barefoot. Would I walk around barefoot in my yard? Absolutely.
- graemep 25d agoYou can get parasites from animal faeces too.
- infecto 25d agoFrom being barefoot? I think it’s pretty low on the risk list. There is absolutely an animal hookworm but it does not have the some risk as human hookworm. Sure if you eat the poop in your backyard you might get something so that is always important to think about!
- deleted 25d ago[deleted]
- paulryanrogers 24d agoPlenty of people have a backyard garden...
- infecto 24d agoI am still missing the point sorry. Infection risk from parasites is quite low via ingestion and even lower via skin. It’s quite low of a risk for ground vegetables and it’s why you want to rinse everything off to begin with. Non-zero but highly unlikely. Some eggs can last years but again washing your produce off is important.
- paimapi 25d agoI live in a city and I cannot tell you how often I see dogshit on the sidewalk, like just in the middle of the sidewalk the only neighborhoods where I don't see this are the ones where there's some nice retired older person who diligently cleans the shit up. but it's not like they bleach the spot, they just pick up most of the poop. so yeah, there's feces everywhere it also doesn't help that we have bottom tier public restrooms available on a per-capita basis, at least here in the US: https://thronelabs.co/blog/where-have-all-the-public-restrooms-gone-in-the-u-s https://thronelabs.co/blog/where-have-all-the-public-restroo...
- brailsafe 25d agoIt's also a likely contender for contributing to the spread of what people thought was smallpox after the arrival of Europeans to what became the U.S
- aaron695 25d ago[dead]