Gross Human Parasitic Worms III - Roundworms

In the previous post, I have mentioned one of the parasites in human's digestive tract, the Tapeworm. In this post, another kind of human parasite, Roundworm, will be discussed.

Ascaris is a type of parasitic worm known as the Giant intestinal roundworm. This type of parasite infects human living in areas with poor sanitation. Roundworm is the most common type of human parasites worldwide, and its infection is named Ascariasis.

Roundworms live in the small intestines. The females can grow up to 40cm in length, weighing 9g and produce over 200,000 eggs everyday!

When Roundworm eggs are ingested, they will hatch in the intestines and burrow through the intestine walls. After that, they make their way to the heart, the lungs and finally break out into the alveoli as shown in the diagram below.

If large amounts of roundworms accumulate in the body, it will result in the blockage of intestinal tracts. At this stage, patients will feel intense abdominal pain. To examine if a person is infected with roundworm, stool sample can be send to examine and suspected cases can undergo an abdominal X-ray. In some cases where the blockage of intestine is too severe, surgery is required to get rid of the worms.

For more information of roundworms in your pets, check out: Roundworms in Pets

Gross Human Parasitic Worms II - Tapeworms

For as long as human exists on the Earth, there are many organisms that feed off, reside in, seek shelter from the human body.

In this post, the most common type of parasitic worm that reside in the digestive tract of a human. The tapeworm.

Tapeworms larva can be ingested by eating uncooked or undercooked meat. After the larvae arrive at the intestines, they will start to grow into adult tapeworms that can be as long as 30m (fish tapeworm), 40m (beef tapeworm)and 120m (some other species of tapeworm)!

And what's the most horrible part? When a person has tapeworm infection, there will be definitely more than one of those in the digestive tract. These intestine intruders, when at adult stage, lay millions of eggs each day! Just imagine that, the whole intestines of yours filled with those slippery wrigglers, it will sure send chills down your spine.

How does the tapeworm attach to the intestines?

Tapeworms have sharp hooks on one side of theirs heads. Those hooks drill into the lining of the intestines and simply provide anchor for the tapeworms.

Tapeworms are usually found on meat products, thus high protein diets are not good for a healthy life. Diet high in fiber is a good prevention against these disgusting worms, as dietary fiber promotes regular bowel and clears off these parasites from the intestine.

Blue Skin Disorder

When you first see Paul Karason, you may think that he is putting up lots of make up to have the “look”, well, he is definitely not. The 57-year-pld Paul Karason has the appearance of every ordinary middle aged man, except for his distinct skin color. And yes, he is all blue, literally.

The-Blue-Man, Paul Karason. 

Karason’s condition is the result of silver poisoning, with the medical name Argyria. Karason has had bad arthritis problem on his shoulders, to ease the pain he started taking *colloidal silver. The arthritis was cured along with a side effect which gradually changed his skin color till what he looks like today. The color changed was so gradual that even Karason himself did not discover it in the first place.

Argyria is caused by excessive exposure to silver be it through contacts, ingestions or inhalation. Long term of exposure will result in the discoloration of skin. This symptom is very hard to treat once develops. Other than the blue skin, severe complications may be the consequences of continued exposure to silver, such as the paralysis of respiratory system which could be fatal.

Karason's case is induced by taking colloidal silver, there are people who are born with blue skin naturally!

They were the family of Fugates. The ancester of this blue skin family was Martin Fugate who settled near Kentucky in 1800, after several generations, his descendants still appear to have blue skin. This blue skin condition remained active for over 1 century.

Family of Fugates, 1800s.

The Fugates suffer from a kind of rare disorder where they have a missing enzyme to convert methemoglobin into haemoglobin, and the medical term for this disorder is called Methemoglobinemia. Methemoglobin (blue in color) is a form of haemoglobin that does not bind to oxygen, when exist in high level in a person, the body is deprived of adequate supply of oxygen. As a result, the skin turn blue or purplish in color.

For the Fugates, their heriditary methemoglobinemia is caused by a reccessive gene. With this gene, the body fails to produce a kind of enzyme named cytochrome b5-reductase, in which its role is to convert methemoglobin back to haemoglobin in red blood cells.

Methylene blue is one of the medicines that is used to treat this conditon. Another medicine that can be used to treat this disorder is ascorbic acid.

*Colloidal silver is a liquid suspension of microscopic particles of silver.