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Worms / Parasites

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  • 07-12-2003 3:43pm
    #1
    ecksor
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 10,501 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    I was accused of having worms growing in my colon on IRC (kids can be so cruel), so I got a bit curious about the possibility and did a web search for something like "worms colon". Give it a go, there's tonnes and tonnes of material out there that's out to convince us that we have gigantic flukes weighing a few pounds that live in our guts pre-digesting all of our food for us. Of course, they're mostly sites which would like us to purchase their colonic irrigation services ;)

    (I wonder if you can get a self-service DIY kit in the post ... )

    Anyway, if you search for the more technical term of "parasite" the results tend to look a bit more reputable.

    It's a very interesting example though, if you hear enough about these sorts of things it'd be very easy to have a hypochondriac reaction and book yourself in for a hose up your arse at your earliest convenience. (Disclaimer: I'm only guessing how a colonic irrigation works).


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    #2
    GuanYin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 15,552 ✭✭✭✭GuanYin


    Strangely it is believed that the recent development of asthma and other strog allergy-related conditions has to do with intestinal parasites, or rather the lack of them.

    We seem to have moved into modern medicine a little quicker than evolution would have liked and one proposed side effect is the "asthma epidemic" that has swept western world.

    It seems that one of the genes upregulated in asthma, controls and immune response pathway designed to fight off intestinal/respiratory parasites. However as we quickly refined our food processing, these parasites became less of a problem. The supposed offset is that we ow have a rogue gene that can be falsley stimulated into responding and leading to conditons like asthma.

    The epidemiology seems to support this with many third world countries where intestinal parasites are a problem, having low allergy conditions in the population.

    So I seriously doubt there is much worry for any of the people who could actually buy the products being advertised. But if the have air purifiers and inhalers, it might be worth investing!


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    #3
    ecksor
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 10,501 Mod ✭✭✭✭ecksor


    Actually, after I've had a few beers I find the following day that I'm flatulent like a horrible dead thing had died in my colon, so I was starting to wonder if I was poisoning the little ****ers ...


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    #4
    Paddy20
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,797 ✭✭✭Paddy20


    Spirits/Alcohol kills worms, and people who drink enough of the stuff !.

    P.:ninja:


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    #5
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    BTW: Bacteria would comprise about 25% dry weight* of faeces ... Also I reckon that a lot of the worms would be nematodes (SP) which are microsocpic.

    In parts of the world like regions of China worms are endemic and are reckoned to be causing food problems - you are eating for more than one !

    *excluding water

    http://www.anti-parasite.com/wrmsflks.html
    Roundworms .. . (Expelled worms as big as 1 ft long have been reported.) Worms that reach the esophagus while a person is asleep can exit the body through the nose or mouth.

    http://www.weblife.org/humanure/chapter7.html
    In moist tropical climates, roundworm infection may afflict 50% of the population


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