Fox News, the source of so many of the truly scary shows one finds on the tube these days, brings you something new to worry about.
According to the Fox 10 News, a Phoenix-area woman went into the hospital to have a potential tumor removed from her head. When doctors went into her skull to remove the tumor, they found a live tapeworm residing in her gray matter.
You can pick up these worms by eating undercooked pork or from contact with folks who don't wash their hands after using the bathroom. Apparently it is pretty uncommon, though not as uncommon as it used to be. The report says that the doctor who removed this particular brain worm removed five others in the last couple of months. Other doctors in the same hospital have run into them too. The operating doctor thinks this sudden rash of cases is a fluke.
Even better, there's video: Say hello to this lady's brain worm.
Quote of the day: "It could have ate holes in her brain, like an apple."
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7 comments:
another great quote from the clip .... the doctor is working on her brain and notices that's it isn't a tumor and sees it was worm.
"i was releived it wasn't something terrible." no just a friggin' brain worm brought on by fecal matter. nothing serious.
gives me a headache just thinking about it... D'oh. now i think i have brain worms.
I'm too much of a wimp to watch the video, but how does a tapeworm get up into the brain?!? I would guess through the bloodstream, but isn't there a blood/brain barrier that's supposed to catch stuff like that?
From not washing your hands? Like you wouldn't notice a worm on your hands, and just walk around with it there all day and night? Besides that, if you are that bad at going to the bathroom where you get it on your hands, I suggest you seek help for that right away. Just a suggestion.
Curt,
Apparently the worms start as eggs. After entry into an organism, these eggs develop in to proto-larval clusters called cysts. These travel through the bloodstream, but they lodge in muscle or other tissue - in this case, a cyst probably lodged in the meninges. Then the cysts develop into larvae, which are mobile and can dig, which can eventually lead to a full-fledged worm in the brain. This lady had it near the brain stem.
Was the operating doctor trying to make a very awful, groaner of a pun ? "You have a tapeworm. We thought it was a fluke" .. hah!
God, i am so glad I wasn't the only one who thought 'fluke' was a pun.
I am more surprised they are not worried about a tapeworm epidemic. Cripes, that would be one bad horror movie.
I nominate "scary brain condition" for Understatement of the Year.
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