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Tapeworm Can Give You Epilepsy - Health - Nairaland

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Tapeworm Can Give You Epilepsy by Psalm351(m): 10:30am On Feb 18, 2015
No matter how many times we talk about
worm infestation, we can never run out of
ideas! This is because worms are more
dangerous than you can ever imagine; and
in general, overall wellbeing is impossible if
traces of worm infestation is present in the
intestine.
Of importance is the presence of tapeworm
in the body. Physicians say that by the time
the tapeworm grows into an adult in the
human gut, it causes Taeniasis – an
intestinal infection.
Experts say Taeniasis is acquired by humans
through the inadvertent ingestion of
tapeworm larval cysts in undercooked pork
or beef. Even if you take care to cook your
beef or pork, the experts warn that
touching other food items that you’re likely
to eat raw such as fruits or ready-made
foods such as bread could lead to the
transfer of this worm’s larvae into your
guts!
“This underscores the importance of hand
hygiene at all times, especially after you have
handled raw meats,” says Family Physician,
Dr. Gbola Ibrahim.
He says the worm’s eggs are typically spread
via food, water, or surfaces contaminated
with infected poops.
Oftentimes, experts warn, the eggs may be
spread from the hands of infected food
handlers who do not clean their hands or
from foods fertilised/irrigated with water
containing infected human faeces.
Ibrahim notes that tapeworms linger in any
environment where personal or communal
hygiene is low or non-existent.
“Human tapeworm carriers contaminate the
environment with tapeworm eggs which
pass out with faeces,” he warns;
underscoring the need to wear bathroom
slippers whenever we are out of the house.
He explains that when someone mistakenly
ingests the eggs (larvae) of this worm, the
individual will develop cysticercosis – a
parasitic tissue infection which physicians
consider a serious disease.
Again, this is why foods that we intend to
eat without cooking, such as salad leaves
and other vegetables, should be soaked in
white vinegar-water solution for at least 10
minutes in order to kill worm larvae and
make our vegetable or salad safe.
If white vinegar is not available, nutritionists
say, you could use salt-water solution;
though white vinegar is considered optimal.
Physicians say the tapeworm larvae can
develop in a number of tissues such as the
muscles, subcutaneous tissues (the third of
the three layers of skin), eyes and brain; and
that those that are located in the central
nervous system can cause
neurocysticercosis, the most severe form of
the disease.
“The symptoms of cysticercosis include
abdominal pain, diarrhoea or constipation,
nausea and vomiting, headache, lethargy,
confusion, vision changes, weakness or
numbness,” Ibrahim notes.
He adds that when left untreated, the
infestation could lead to the involvement of
other body tissues, which may result in
swelling of the skeletal muscle (muscles that
make movement possible), subcutaneous
cysts (which may feel like large peas under
the surface of the skin), and vision changes
when the cysts infect the eyes.
In potential complications of cysticercosis,
symptoms may include stroke or, in extreme
cases, death, scientists warn
This is not all. Would you know that this
terrible worm can cause epileptic seizures if
it is not expelled from the body by way of
regular deworming?
Ibrahim says by the time cysticercosis sets in
and the cysts develop in the central nervous
system, it can cause neurocysticercosis – the
most severe form of the disease
(cysticercosis) and one of the main
preventable causes of epilepsy (seizures) in
many developing countries such as ours.
Neurocysticercosis is present in about 70
per cent of cases, experts say; and
symptoms may include chronic headaches,
blindness, seizures (or epilepsy if they are
recurrent), hydrocephalus (abnormal
accumulation of water in the brain),
meningitis, dementia and symptoms caused
by lesions occupying spaces of the central
nervous system.
“This is not to say that anyone who has
epileptic seizures should not see the doctor.
Rather, the individual needs to see the
doctor as a matter of urgency, because by
that time, the problem has gone beyond the
need for mere deworming. S/he needs more
urgent and radical treatment if life must be
saved,” Ibrahim warns.
In fact, a World Health Organisation statistics
reveal that more than 80 per cent of the
world’s 50 million people who are affected
by epilepsy live in low-income and lower-
middle-income countries, many of which are
endemic for pork tapeworm (Taenia solium)
which can infect humans when they eat raw
or undercooked pork.
Prevent tapeworm infestation
The prevention of cysticercosis can be
achieved through various measures,
including the following:
Public education regarding the parasite
and its route of transmission
Avoidance of raw or undercooked pork in
endemic areas
Avoidance of potential introduction of
poops into the mouth through routine
hand washing, good personal hygiene, as
well as through the proper handling and
preparation of foods
Meat inspection and the proper disposal
of infected meat in endemic areas
Improved sanitary measures for human
waste disposal in endemic areas
Screening contacts of infected individuals
and instituting appropriate treatment
Improved sanitation;
Improved pig husbandry;
Anthelmintic (deworming) treatment of
pigs;
Improved meat inspection, and
processing of meat products.
Developing a vaccine for the prevention of
cysticercosis which may be used in the
future; currently, there is no vaccine
approved for use in humans, though there
have been advances in vaccines being
used in pigs



Source: Punchng.com

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