Intestinal Worms: Infestations; Alleged Benefits; Historical Treatments

Ringo

Ringo

I like to not get involved in these matters
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I was recently at a funeral of a family member and it set me thinking to long lost relatives. A memory emerged from a distant past when my Grandmother used to warn about eating too much sugar as it would give you worms!

That set off another memory as I recalled an UL about somebody having a severe case of worms. The doctor starved the person (and hence the worms) for a few days and then lured them out of the persons body by putting food into their mouth.

So, does eating too much sugar give you worms and can you lure them out with a slice of cake on your tongue?
 
Sugar cannot give you worms, you have to ingest eggs of the parasite, which then develop into adult parasites. The two main groups of intestinal parasites are the Roundworms and the Tapeworms. The Tapeworms have no musculature and maintain their position in the gut by anchoring hooks, they cannot move up to the mouth. The roundworms are cousins of the earthworms (Taxonomists: do not flame me for that!) and are quite mobile and muscular, and can on occasion move up to the mouth, though this is more akin to getting lost than by intention.
 
I heard it was milk, not food that brought the worm up -
akin to the story of the swallowed snake, I suspect
 
I was always told it was too many potatoes, the eggs being in potatoes, but surely boiling/frying the spuds would kill the eggs?
 
Don't forget those crafty little pinworms! These little characters, although making their home intitially in the gut, eventually migrate to the bowel where their heads break off and move down to the rectum where they can cause extreme irritation. If your rectum is itching a lot (especially at night), then it can be a sign that you're infected. Scratch too much and it can cause anal eczema or a bacterial infection of the rectum. It can get worse with females because too much itching will spread them around and you'll get an itchy front bottom as well! Oh the wonders of parasites :D
 
This is one of the most revolting threads I have ever read.

But it puts me in mind of something which may also be an urban myth.

Is it true that diet pills sold in the early part of the 20th century contained tapeworm eggs?
 
Quake said:
Is it true that diet pills sold in the early part of the 20th century contained tapeworm eggs?
Click to expand...

I am certain that is true and I believe it is still possible to do that now.

I have no idea if it actually works though.
 
Quake said:
This is one of the most revolting threads I have ever read.
Is it true that diet pills sold in the early part of the 20th century contained tapeworm eggs?
Click to expand...

Even snopes isn't sure Tapeworm Eggs

BTW: My Granny also used to say you'd get worms if you ate too much sugar, though in retrospect it was probably just to stop us eating the sugar rather than actually believing it.
 
Chriswsm said:
Quake said:
Is it true that diet pills sold in the early part of the 20th century contained tapeworm eggs?
Click to expand...

I am certain that is true and I believe it is still possible to do that now.

I have no idea if it actually works though.
Click to expand...

in the 1960s in the uk, my mothers friend was taking diet pills, one day she dropped one in the sink and the tablet cover melted in the water, leaving a worm type thigy, so i think its true (i didnt see this, but they both sware its true).
 
Quake said:
This is one of the most revolting threads I have ever read.
Click to expand...

I think the skullf*cking thread is pretty gross too.
 
IIRC when I was a kid it was going round that if you got tapeworm you would have to lure it out by placing a bit of raw steak (tied to a piece of string) on your chest at night. The worm would come out at night to take advantage of the feast, and in the morning you could simply pull the bugger out. Presumably the string was there to haul the worm out if it was tenacious enough to actually grab the steak and take it back into your gut..! :roll:

Also, my old aunt used to warn me against eating raw potato, as she said it would give you worms. By that point I'd already eaten a few. I was a strange child.
 
Indeed the potato plant is toxic. It contains an alkaloid named solanine ( C45H73NO15) that appears in all the external parts of the plant (leaves, stems , flowers and fruits) and also in the tender buds of the tubers when they germinate. The ingestion of the plant produces gastrointestinal, hepatic and heart damages that can be , in case that the ingestion is high, deadly. ( More information in" Toxicity of potato" )
Click to expand...

Source

Also see here
 
Heckler's quote:
Quote:
Indeed the potato plant is toxic. It contains an alkaloid named solanine ( C45H73NO15) that appears in all the external parts of the plant (leaves, stems , flowers and fruits) and also in the tender buds of the tubers when they germinate. The ingestion of the plant produces gastrointestinal, hepatic and heart damages that can be , in case that the ingestion is high, deadly. ( More information in" Toxicity of potato" )
Click to expand...

Blimey, I've been eating raw potatoes regularly since I was a child, and I still enjoy them (I'm well into middle age) :shock: I certainly haven't noticed any bad effects. But I can give them up any time I want, oh yes...

Regarding intestinal worms, my mum also trotted out the "Don't eat too much sugar, it'll give you worms" line.

She worked as a nurse at one time, and told me about tapeworm victims being starved of food for a day or two, then a doctor placed a piece of cheese (as I recall) in the patient's mouth to draw out the worm :eek!!!!:
 
What about the claim that in Victorian times, people infected with worms could buy lead lures from quacks, to draw the worms out, and many died choking on them?
 
A friend of mine who runs an alternative health clinic was in the US learning how to do colonic irrigation. He was speaking to a woman there who had just had the treatment and, apparently, a mass of worms came out when they flushed her out. When the worms were analysed, it was found they were the type you get from eating pork. Bad enough but the woman had been a veggie for 8 years! Gruesome but interesting. I'm pretty sure it's true cos the guy who told it to me isn't given to making things up.
Got me worried though cos I used to love eating raw bacon when I was a kid - despite my mum warning me I'd get worms. Eeek, maybe they're still living inside me, could be quite a thriving colony inside my guts after all these years :nooo:
 
It makes sense for the parasite to benefit its host wherever possible to promote long life and happiness for both. If the person having irrigation was doing so for no good medical reason (service time) then chances are he or she was not being harmed at all.

If I found I had them and there were no negative symptoms I would not elect to remove them as I do not see the point.
 
Quake42 said:
Is it true that diet pills sold in the early part of the 20th century contained tapeworm eggs?
Click to expand...

One of my teachers in secondary school stated that this was the ancient Roman's way of slimming. However I'm unsure if it was the Latin or Biolology teacher who said this (I think Biology).

The Latin teacher certainly told us of the Roman's habit of vomiting after a huge meal so you could eat more :shock:
 
berengaria~ said:
A friend of mine who runs an alternative health clinic was in the US learning how to do colonic irrigation. He was speaking to a woman there who had just had the treatment and, apparently, a mass of worms came out when they flushed her out. When the worms were analysed, it was found they were the type you get from eating pork. Bad enough but the woman had been a veggie for 8 years! Gruesome but interesting. I'm pretty sure it's true cos the guy who told it to me isn't given to making things up.
Got me worried though cos I used to love eating raw bacon when I was a kid - despite my mum warning me I'd get worms. Eeek, maybe they're still living inside me, could be quite a thriving colony inside my guts after all these years :nooo:
Click to expand...

that is one of the most horrifying things I have heard !!!! :cross eye ... the woman with the worms that is, not you eating raw bacon.
 
I've heard that certain types of intestinal worms react badly to anasthetic - and in that it is rare, but not unusual (particularly in poorer areas of the world, where infestation is rife) for a worm to come slithering out the patient's nose while he or she is undergoing an operation.

Nasty - though how it gets all the way up there from the gut is anyone's guess.

Re: health benefits of having worms:
Possibly true. A certain school of biologists and medicinal practitioners believe that a certain strain (can't remember which one, sorry) of gutworm can help in alleviating asthma. And that the reason why so many kids appear to suffer from it nowadays is that not enough of 'em are getting a good dose of worms - mostly because of improved hygiene awareness on the part of the parents.
 
not unknown for aspirant supermodels and others to use them for weight control: wasn't there a case of a wannabe pop singer in Japan, ordered to lose weight by her manager, who popped a tapeworm to help things along a bit?
 
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