But could a tapeworm really be lured out of a person with a lump of meat? Not really, according to Brian Louden, from Science Channel's MythBusters. “Luckily, this entire idea is from the imagination of a creative individual who took already scream-inducing diseases and created a terrifying chimera,” he told TheWrap.
Humans can become infected with these tapeworms by eating raw or undercooked beef (T. saginata) or pork (T. solium and T. asiatica).
Tapeworm infections are treated with anti-parasitic drugs. Treatments for larval cyst infections may include anti-parasitic drugs and surgery to remove the cyst. Other drugs may be used to treat symptoms.
Once inside the body, the tapeworm head attaches to the inner wall of the intestines and feeds off the food being digested. Pieces of the tapeworm break off and come out of the body in feces (poop), along with the eggs they contain. If this infected poop gets into soil or water, it can infect other people or animals.
Eat more raw garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, beets, and carrots, all of which have been used traditionally to kill parasites. In one study, researchers found that a mixture of honey and papaya seeds cleared stools of parasites in 23 out of 30 subjects. Drink a lot of water to help flush out your system.
You can easily kill tapeworms with anthelmintic drugs, including praziquantel (Biltricide®), albendazole (Albenza®) and nitazoxanide (Alinia®). Healthcare providers usually recommend praziquantel because it also paralyzes the worm, forcing it to dislodge from your intestinal wall.
Some people with tapeworm infections never need treatment, for the tapeworm exits the body on its own. Others don't realize they have it because they have no symptoms. However, if you're diagnosed with intestinal tapeworm infection, medication will likely be prescribed to get rid of it.
It's important to note that some tapeworm infections don't require treatment. Sometimes, the tapeworm leaves the body on its own. This is why some people never have symptoms or only have mild symptoms. If a tapeworm doesn't leave your body, your doctor will recommend a treatment based on the type of infection.
Depending on the species, tapeworms can live for up to 20-30 years. Many times, people can be infected for long periods of time without even knowing they have a tapeworm infection. While viral or bacterial infections can disappear in a matter of days or weeks, a tapeworm could be with you for years.
A tapeworm infection is usually diagnosed by finding eggs or tapeworm segments in the stool. Your doctor may ask you to bring in a sample so a lab can look for eggs, larvae, or tapeworm segments. A blood test can spot antigens, foreign substances that let your doctor know your body is trying to fight the infection.
So worms were treated using bitter, purgative plants such as wormwood or gentian, which would both kill the worms and expel them by provoking a nasty bout of diarrhoea.
Anyone who has a tapeworm will need medical treatment to get rid of it. Treatment is about 95% effective and typically takes a few days.
Possible Complications
If pork tapeworm larvae move out of the intestine, they can cause local growths and damage tissues such as the brain, eye, or heart. This condition is called cysticercosis. Infection of the brain (neurocysticercosis) can cause seizures and other nervous system problems.
Meat Is to Blame
Tapeworms get into your body when you eat raw or undercooked meat. Beef tapeworms are rare in the U.S., but they can get into the food supply when people live close to cattle and conditions aren't clean. You're more likely to get tapeworms from undercooked pork in the U.S.
Yes; however, the risk of infection with this tapeworm in humans is very low. For a person to become infected with Dipylidium, he or she must accidentally swallow an infected flea. Most reported cases involve children. The most effective way to prevent infections in pets and humans is through flea control.
You can take steps to kill tapeworms if you properly freeze and cook your food. Cooking meats properly and freezing them at the proper temperatures can help kill any tapeworms they might be harboring. Meat should be cooked until the center is no longer pink and the juices run clear.
The most common tapeworm infection in Australia is caused by dwarf tapeworm. There is also a risk in Australia of contracting a serious condition called hydatid disease from the eggs of a type of tapeworm called Echinococcus granulosus found in dog faeces (poo).
Although tapeworms in humans usually cause few symptoms and are easily treated, they can sometimes cause serious, life-threatening problems. That's why it's important to recognize the symptoms and know how to protect yourself and your family.
Clinical diagnosis is usually made by observing the white, mobile tapeworm segments in the feces or crawling around the anus. These segments look like grains of white rice or cucumber seeds.
Humans become infected by eating raw or undercooked infected beef or pork. Once ingested, cysticerci attach to the small intestine and develop into adult tapeworms over the course of 2 months. The adult tapeworms produce proglottids that mature, detach, and migrate to the anus and are then passed in the feces.
Eat more raw garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, beets, and carrots, all of which have been used traditionally to kill parasites.
In 1883, Dr Aguiel described the case of a young man who expelled a 1-kg (2-lb 3-oz) lump containing 34.5 m (113 ft 2 in) of tapeworm. Three years later, Dr Garfinkel saw a peasant who voided 238 ft (72.5 m) of tapeworm, with 12 heads being seen.
Taeniasis can cause mild and non-specific symptoms, including abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhoea or constipation when the tapeworms become fully developed in the intestine. Cysticercosis in humans, on the other hand, occurs when the eggs of pork tapeworms are accidentally ingested.
Rope worms are long, rope-like structures that sometimes occur in the intestines. According to some scientists, they are parasitic worms, but it is more likely that they are nothing more than a buildup of intestinal mucus and other debris.