Woman's Mystery Illness Turns Out To Be 3-Inch Snake Parasite In Her Brain 103
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A neurosurgeon in Australia pulled a wriggling 3-inch roundworm from the brain of a 64-year-old woman last year -- which was quite the surprise to the woman's team of doctors and infectious disease experts, who had spent over a year trying to identify the cause of her recurring and varied symptoms. A close study of the extracted worm made clear why the diagnosis was so hard to pin down: the roundworm was one known to infect snakes -- specifically carpet pythons endemic to the area where the woman lived -- as well as the pythons' mammalian prey. The woman is thought to be the first reported human to ever have an infection with this snake-adapted worm, and it is the first time the worm has been found burrowing through a mammalian brain. [...]
Subsequent examination determined the roundworm was Ophidascaris robertsi based on its red color and morphological features. Genetic testing confirmed the identification. The woman went on ivermectin again and another anti-parasitic drug, albendazole. Months later, her lung and liver lesions improved, and her neuropsychiatric symptoms persisted but were improved. The doctors believe the woman became infected after foraging for warrigal greens (aka New Zealand spinach) around a lake near her home that was inhabited by carpet pythons. Usually, O. robertsi adults inhabit the snakes' esophagus and stomach and release their eggs in the snakes' feces. From there, the eggs are picked up by small mammals that the snakes feed upon. The larvae develop and establish in the small mammals, growing quite long despite the small size of the animals, and the worm's life cycle is complete when the snake eats the infected prey.
Doctors hypothesize the woman picked up the eggs meant for small mammals as she foraged, ingesting them either by not fully washing or cooking the greens or by not properly washing her hands or kitchen equipment. In retrospect, the progression of her symptoms suggests an initial foodborne infection, followed by worm larva migrating from her gastrointestinal tract to multiple organs. The prednisolone, an immunosuppressive drug, may have inadvertently helped the worm migrate and get into the central nervous system. Kennedy, a co-author of the report on the woman's case, stressed the importance of washing any foods foraged or taken from a garden. She also emphasized proper kitchen safety and hand washing.
Subsequent examination determined the roundworm was Ophidascaris robertsi based on its red color and morphological features. Genetic testing confirmed the identification. The woman went on ivermectin again and another anti-parasitic drug, albendazole. Months later, her lung and liver lesions improved, and her neuropsychiatric symptoms persisted but were improved. The doctors believe the woman became infected after foraging for warrigal greens (aka New Zealand spinach) around a lake near her home that was inhabited by carpet pythons. Usually, O. robertsi adults inhabit the snakes' esophagus and stomach and release their eggs in the snakes' feces. From there, the eggs are picked up by small mammals that the snakes feed upon. The larvae develop and establish in the small mammals, growing quite long despite the small size of the animals, and the worm's life cycle is complete when the snake eats the infected prey.
Doctors hypothesize the woman picked up the eggs meant for small mammals as she foraged, ingesting them either by not fully washing or cooking the greens or by not properly washing her hands or kitchen equipment. In retrospect, the progression of her symptoms suggests an initial foodborne infection, followed by worm larva migrating from her gastrointestinal tract to multiple organs. The prednisolone, an immunosuppressive drug, may have inadvertently helped the worm migrate and get into the central nervous system. Kennedy, a co-author of the report on the woman's case, stressed the importance of washing any foods foraged or taken from a garden. She also emphasized proper kitchen safety and hand washing.
Even a Parasite Wants to Live (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Even a Parasite Wants to Live (Score:5, Informative)
She was given Ivermectin and Albendazole after the worm was removed, just in case there were more worms. Moving into her brain didn't help the worm evade them.
She was given Prednisolone while the worm was in her, suppressing her immune system and likely helping the worm. Apparently, the doctors thought she might have an auto-immune disease and never suspected a parasite.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
She was given Ivermectin
Shouldn't we vaccinate her instead? :p
Parasite vaccine (Score:5, Informative)
Shouldn't we vaccinate her instead? :p
Jokes aside:
- Yes, it's possible to develop vaccines against parasites.
- Currently there isn't any anti-parasite vaccine in regular use.
- A well known example of anti-parasite vaccine being researched is against malaria(*).
(*) As this disease is caused by a signle-cell eukaryote (like us) parasite, instead of a bacteria or a virus, there are a lot less possibility to target the small difference in how their biochemistry work (e.g. you can't target a RNA-based viral polymerase or bacterial cell wall with some inhibitor).
How about the malaria vaccine? (Score:2)
Plasmodium is a parasite...
Re: (Score:2)
It is also a single-celled eukaryote.
" Parasite" is a description of one (or more) stages of the lifestyle of an organism, not a description of it's biochemistry.
If two organisms have similar biochemistry, a drug (any chemical) that interacts with the biochemistry of one, has a fairly good chance of interacting with the biochemistry of another. That's why, for example, chemotherapy against cancer is very often a race between killing the cancer and killing the patient : the
Re: (Score:3)
- Currently there isn't any anti-parasite vaccine in regular use.
That is false, but actually only because of development that are very recent. Mosquirix, an anti-malaria vaccine was approved for use in April this year, and is actively being given to children in high-risk areas with over 1.5million vaccinations already given out and more and more coming every day. Its efficacy is somewhat low, but it is still technically an anti-parasite vaccine currently in regular use.
Thanks (Score:2)
only because of development that are very recent. Mosquirix, an anti-malaria vaccine was approved for use in April this year, and is actively being given to children in high-risk areas with over 1.5million vaccinations already
Oh, thanks for the update!
I missed that recent development, and was wrongly thinking that malaria vaccination was still at the clinical research stage.
Cool that it went to production! Hopefully it will be able to make some impact despite the relatively low efficacy.
Re: (Score:3)
Shouldn't we vaccinate her instead? :p
Roundworm conspiracy theorists are insisting that only the Soros cabal wants you to take ivermectin for parasites. They can ship you messenger RNA treatments from Venezuela instead.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
She was given Ivermectin and Albendazole after the worm was removed, just in case there were more worms. Moving into her brain didn't help the worm evade them.
She was given Prednisolone while the worm was in her, suppressing her immune system and likely helping the worm. Apparently, the doctors thought she might have an auto-immune disease and never suspected a parasite.
The article says her lungs and liver improved after initial treatment with ivermectin, before surgical removal of the worm, but the parasite survived.
Ivermectin does not cross the blood-brain barrier [wikipedia.org] in adult mammals [wikipedia.org] at normal therapeutic doses.
Re:Even a Parasite Wants to Live (Score:5, Informative)
The informed snide commentary was less to do with the fact that it's mostly used on horses, than the fact that since respectable doctors wouldn't prescribe it for covid, those taking it were almost all buying the non-prescription formulation intended for horses that was difficult to dose precisely enough for humans - risking overdose on a dangerous medicine that has a modest risk of heart problems and other nasty side effects in humans even at approved therapeutic doses.
That, and the fact that the reason no respectable doctor would prescribe it (coupled with the risks) is that there has never been any credible evidence that it does anything against covid. A couple *very* small exploratory studies very early on showed some benefits - but the studies were of a size and rigor that only let them determine whether the treatment warrants further study, rather than offering any statistically relevant results. Later placebo-controlled studies that involved enough patients to be statistically relevant showed no benefit.
So, basically, your doctor was putting your long-term heart health at risk with a "treatment" that had no medically credible evidence of doing anything.
Re: (Score:2)
That, and the fact that the reason no respectable doctor would prescribe it (coupled with the risks) is that there has never been any credible evidence that it does anything against covid.
Studies showed that it *did* have an effect on Covid19 in vitro (IOW in a test tube). Unfortunately the dosage needed would be extremely toxic if given to a human.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The informed snide commentary was less to do with the fact that it's mostly used on horses
An commentator who was ACTUALLY informed would know that far more is used on cattle than on horses...
than the fact that since respectable doctors wouldn't prescribe it for covid, those taking it were almost all buying the non-prescription formulation intended for horses that was difficult to dose precisely enough for humans - risking overdose on a dangerous medicine that has a modest risk of heart problems and other nasty side effects in humans even at approved therapeutic doses.
That, and the fact that the reason no respectable doctor would prescribe it (coupled with the risks) is that there has never been any credible evidence that it does anything against covid. A couple *very* small exploratory studies very early on showed some benefits - but the studies were of a size and rigor that only let them determine whether the treatment warrants further study, rather than offering any statistically relevant results. Later placebo-controlled studies that involved enough patients to be statistically relevant showed no benefit.
So, basically, your doctor was putting your long-term heart health at risk with a "treatment" that had no medically credible evidence of doing anything.
Usability against COVID aside, its very commonly prescribed in humans, per: https://clincalc.com/DrugStats... [clincalc.com] it has been in the top 400-500 most prescribed drugs for humans in the US since 2014.
Part of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was given to a pair of researchers researching it for use in humans against parasites...
Aaron Z
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, it is used in humans, when the benefits outweigh the risks. And any human can go and get some from the pharmacy so long as they have a valid medical reason to use it, as evidenced by a prescription. And the pharmacist hasn't run out because they've been selling it as a dangerous placebo to easily-guided marks.
However, being in the "top 500" most prescribed drugs is a *long* way from being "very commonly prescribed". You're not quite out in the weeds of extreme specialty drugs, but you're well past t
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, it is used in humans, when the benefits outweigh the risks.
As with ANY prescription medication.
And any human can go and get some from the pharmacy so long as they have a valid medical reason to use it, as evidenced by a prescription. And the pharmacist hasn't run out because they've been selling it as a dangerous placebo to easily-guided marks.
However, being in the "top 500" most prescribed drugs is a *long* way from being "very commonly prescribed". You're not quite out in the weeds of extreme specialty drugs, but you're well past the drugs any given person is particularly likely to to ever receive.
Though I suppose I may be quibbling semantics - on a planet of billions, there's millions of "one in a thousand" cases. That's "common" from an absolute perspective.
From the CDC's Overseas Refugee Health Guidance: https://www.cdc.gov/immigrantr... [cdc.gov]
All Middle Eastern, Asian, North African, Latin American, and Caribbean refugees should receive presumptive therapy with:
Albendazole, single dose of 400 mg (200 mg for children 12-23 months)
AND
Ivermectin, two doses 200 mcg/Kg orally once a day for 2 days before departure to the United States.
All African refugees who did not originate from or reside in countries where Loa loa infection is endemic (Box 1) should receive presumptive therapy with:
Albendazole, single dose of 400 mg (200 mg for children 12-23 months)
AND
Ivermectin, two doses 200 mcg/Kg orally once a day for 2 days
Not saying that those taking the worming paste were right and dosing that correctly would be a lot harder than its proponents made it out to be, but to imply that its a last ditch rarely used medication vs a commonly used and effective one FOR ITS PRESCRIBED PURPOSE is just spreading FUD.
Per https://clincalc.com/DrugStats... [clincalc.com] its FDA approved as an anti-parasitic and as a pediculicide.
It is
Re: (Score:2)
The people who believe in conspiracy theories are not the best ones to do life-or-death arithmetic. So I'll stand by my suggestion that laypeople ought to stay the hell away form the horse paste.
Re: (Score:2)
Nor the best to look up *accurate* information to determine the correct dosage to begin with.
Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)
> A few months back you could read snide remark
> upon snide remark here that the 'Tin was only for
> horses.
The ivermectin/COVID hysteria was completely tangental and unrelated to the drug's legitimate use as an anti parasitic. I had it once too... many years ago when I came back ill from a vacation, during which I also took anti-malarial meds for...again... their legitimate purpose and in a legitimate dosage.
The COVID ivermectin people weren't taking the therapeutic dosage called for in humans with
Re:Even a Parasite Wants to Live (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
I get it though... when I eventually caught COVID myself, it was a great big nothingburger.
On behalf of the 1million dead Americans, on behalf of my healthy young friend who hasn't been able to taste or smell for 2 years now, on behalf of my now declared disabled work colleague, and on behalf of the 3weeks I spent in bed, 2 months I spent coughing, and 6 months I spent unable to do any physical activity, go fuck yourself with whatever you think would be most painful. No seriously dude, let you imagination run wild.
Alpha Centauri (Score:4, Funny)
Literal mindworms. Cool!
one (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Don't ever laugh as a hearse goes by
For you may be the next to die
They wrap you up in a big white sheet
From your head down to your feet
They put you in a big black box
And cover you up with dirt and rocks
And all goes well for about a week
And then your coffin begins to leak
And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
The worms play pinochle on your snout
They eat your eyes, they eat your nose
They eat the jelly between your toes
A big green worm with rolling eyes
Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes
Your stomach
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
They pulled one out - I wonder how many were left inside her.
That's why they gave her Ivermectin and Albendazole. They are anti-parasite medications for roundworms. They were prescribed just in case there were more worms.
Ivermectin also cures Covid, but only in Republicans.
Re: (Score:3)
Considering her liver and lung lesions started to heal after taking the medication it is safe to assume that they made their way to these organs. My guess is that the patient has permanent brain damage but things stopped getting worse.
Re:one (Score:5, Funny)
My guess is that the patient has permanent brain damage
In that case we'll find out soon enough when she starts posting on slashdot as Anonymous Coward.
Re: (Score:2)
Surely she'll become a python programmer?
Re: (Score:1)
My guess is that the patient has permanent brain damage but things stopped getting worse.
Sounds like she might be the next Presidential candidate. I know she's in Australia but is she an American citizen?
LK
Washing everything you forage is overkill (Score:1)
Granted in this case the patient eat the worm, but they had a compromised immune system and that plant grows close to the ground where it is more likely to pick droppings.
In most cases it generally safe to eat wild food without a sterile environment to wash them in. I do eat berries in the woods when available, they are usually much tastier than store bought. Of course I do not pick the ones I'm not familiar with and I avoid the ones close to the ground where wildlife could pee on it.
Re:Washing everything you forage is overkill (Score:5, Informative)
Physicians also used to think that washing their hands between treating patients, was overkill. Sure, 95% of the time, it might not result in a brain parasite. But that doesn't mean it's overkill to was your hands (or foraged food) every time, to avoid that 5% chance of a serious illness or other health issue.
Re: (Score:2)
Not to mention deer, etc. whose waste stream is very often loaded with human-compatible parasites, and starts around waste height - above the overwhelming majority of most berries.
Giardia (extremely common in deer) may not be life threatening so long as you have plenty of clean water to stay hydrated, but having the trots for a few weeks is it still annoying.
Re: (Score:2)
You know it's hard understanding your point about not washing wild food with a mouth full of caveats...
Re: (Score:1)
What is the harm you're trying to avoid by eating filthy, shit covered wild berries without at least rinsing them first?
Parasite (Score:5, Funny)
Re: Parasite (Score:3)
like in The Wrath of Khan (Score:1)
That scene from The Wrath of Khan suddenly makes a lot more sense
Australians... (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Bullshit. If you were really Australian you would own it and celebrate the joke. You're just a humourless dimwit, likely had one too many carpet pythons fall on your head while you were watching TV.
so true (Score:1)
goa'uld? (Score:2)
goa'uld
Re: (Score:2)
kek tok'ra
I see it now (Score:1)
KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!
Re: (Score:2)
No. They need a host that will be eaten by a snake. So "small mammal". Very few sheep are eaten by snakes.
Re: (Score:2)
Very few sheep are eaten by snakes.
Even in Florida.
Re:Doesn't .au have CAT scans and MRI machines? (Score:5, Informative)
Access certainly is not tightly controlled in Australia, if you need it, you get it. In fact this person had the scan to find the worm, when other treatment options failed, this being the first time this has ever occurred its no surprise that there was such a delay.. Ive had such scans on several occasions, at no cost to me, and promptly, within a week.I rarely wait more than a day for a doctors appointment, and as a disabled pensioner, there is no charge. Prescriptions are a max of $7 aud, and free after $300 in a given year.
Dont believe the lies told to Americans about our universal health care, in most cases it is excellent. You still have the option of private care if you want it, you just have to pay for it.
What we dont have is people dying for lack of treatment or medications as occurs commonly like the US.
Re:Doesn't .au have CAT scans and MRI machines? (Score:4, Informative)
From TFA: But, not long after that, she went through a three-month bout of forgetfulness and worsening depression. Brain magnetic resonance imaging found a growing lesion in her right frontal lobe. In June 2022, she went under the knife for a biopsy—and that's when the neurosurgeon pulled out the live, writhing parasite from her brain.
So MRI was the tool that identified the problem area but wasn't fine enough to see the worm.
I think the issue was asymptomatic presentation and a novel disease, not restricted access to services - that's not how things work here.
Re: (Score:1)
I'm no neurosurgeon, but I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express once...
MRI requires the subject be absolutely stationary - it can't cope with movement, so unless the worm played along, it probably wasn't identifiable in the imagery.
Re: (Score:2)
Movement of the target makes interpreting the results harder, not impossible.
Re: (Score:2)
I think the issue was asymptomatic presentation
Sounds more like ambiguous symptoms, not absence of symptoms. "Forgetfulness and depression" can be caused by diseases other than brain-dwelling python parasites.
To quote a medical student I knew when I was a student : "When I hear hooves, I think 'horses', not 'zebras' or 'SFX artists and coconuts'. So on her next caving trip, we took a couple of coconut shells down with us ...
Re: (Score:1, Redundant)
> What we dont have is people dying for lack of treatment or medications as occurs commonly like the US. :rolls eyes:
Don't believe what you hear on the news. That's not really a problem.
Re: (Score:2)
Why not believe the news that Americans tell other Americans about life in America?
Re: (Score:2)
What we dont have is people dying for lack of treatment or medications as occurs commonly like the US.
Can you give the citations on how many Americans die because they cannot get treatment, as well as the citations that no australians have died for lack of treatment?
I'm a big fan of changing the US healthcare system, make no mistake. A single provider system just makes sense today. It'll happen here. The present system is in a bit of a positive feedback loop.
Plus people might voluntarily choose to forgo treatment. Many people I know who are at an age where they might need intervention are on a treadmill
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
how many Americans die because they can't afford treatment. that's a tough one, reading your comment made me want to research the answer to your question... the problem is that FEAR that they can't afford treatment, rather than actually being unable to afford treatment is a very real thing too..
Yes, exactly. A person's fear they cannot get treatment is not the same as them actually not being able to get treatment.
If I might give a conversation I had with a doctor. The last year of my father's life, he had several trips to the local ER. When I was speaking with the ER physician, I notes that there were a lot of people in the ER that didn't appear to be there for emergencies. People with children with colds, simple things that would normally be taken care of by a GP and a trip to the pharmacy. An
Re: (Score:2)
Ah, Doctors should be perfect and never make mistakes. Like you?
In every field mistakes are made, and some of them cost lives, thats the price of living life.
What we dont have is buses of people going to other countries for medications, life saving epi pens that cost hundreds of dollars, and the terrible life expectancy the US has. Its blatantly obvious from basic stats that the US system is both overpriced and has poor outcomes.
Re: (Score:2)
Ah, Doctors should be perfect and never make mistakes. Like you?
You need to relax a bit there, mate. I provided some citations on people killed accidentally by prescription meds in response to LazarusQLong's excellent and polite post .We were having a conversation among adults, not something for you to get all wrapped around the axle about. You can even join in if you like.
In every field mistakes are made, and some of them cost lives, thats the price of living life.
That's true. But that doesn't mean that you aren't allowed to look up statistics, or note them. If you paused to look at my link in regards to that, you would see that there might be as many as 5 time
Re: (Score:2)
Can you give the citations on how many Americans die because they cannot get treatment,
Limited public funds for treating gender dysphoria, gender affirming care, reassignment surgery.
That and any bans on drag queen story hours at public schools invariably result in cries of "You're killing us!" from the LGBTQIA+ community.
pssst - that's not citations. That's statements.
Re: (Score:1)
What we dont have is people dying for lack of treatment or medications as occurs commonly like the US.
Oh yes you do. There is no such thing as "more money won't buy you better healthcare", especially when we're talking about prevention. That cancer your granny died from? Probably would have been easily treatable if caught early enough, for example by having her do a monthly full-body MRI scan for her entire life. Yearly preventative PET tomography is also a clear winner in terms of benefits of early detection vs radiation exposure. But... costs helluva lot, doesn't it?
So don't be a hypocrite, you too have
Re: (Score:2)
In the first world, preventative healthcare is generally more available than in the US. Living in America, it seems nobody goes to the doctor until they're literally dying. This is likely why the US life expectancy is falling behind other wealthy countries.
Re:Doesn't .au have CAT scans and MRI machines? (Score:5, Informative)
Our health care is AMAZING. I had cancer and didn't need to worry for one microsecond about paying for treatment. I was operated on immediately (two days after discovery).
Get over yourself. I know there is a whole marketing machine pushing your third world grade health system. They are lies. Health here is free, amazing, and it works. And if you want to go private, you pay like $200/month and have full private cover. Which you don't need.
Don't believe their lies.
Re:Doesn't .au have CAT scans and MRI machines? (Score:4, Funny)
Our health care is AMAZING. I had cancer and didn't need to worry for one microsecond about paying for treatment.
Hey, this is true for lots of people here in the US too!
Re: (Score:3)
Our health care is AMAZING. I had cancer and didn't need to worry for one microsecond about paying for treatment. I was operated on immediately (two days after discovery).
Get over yourself. I know there is a whole marketing machine pushing your third world grade health system. They are lies. Health here is free, amazing, and it works. And if you want to go private, you pay like $200/month and have full private cover. Which you don't need.
Don't believe their lies.
The biggest problem is the conservatives (LNP) have been trying to kill our world class public health care system for decades. Howard was the PM who introduced mandatory health insurance for anyone over 30. When I moved to the UK I didn't realise just how bad it was.
But enough of that, Australia does have some world class medical facilities and doctors will not hesitate to order an X-Ray or MRI, although they are quite cognisant that these are not risk free so won't order them if they don't think they ar
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Or is access to them so highly controlled by whatever socialized medicine is called in Australia that it took a year for her to get one?
(I wonder how this compares to people in the US who are on Medicare/Medicaid.)
Cat scans and MRIs are readily available and unlike the US they won't bankrupt you for having one. But her symptoms didn't point to anything wrong with her head, they were internal organ issues, coughs etc, nothing to indicate a cat scan might be a good idea.
Re: (Score:2)
She would have received CAT scans from the start - how else would they have known about the liver and lung lesions that she was initially treated for?
Re: (Score:2)
What flavor Kool Aid did they give you?
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, the scan found lesions in the brain. However it did not indicate that it was a worm as that region of the image was very cloudy. The worm was found while operating.
Re: (Score:2)
Or is access to them so highly controlled by whatever socialized medicine is called in Australia that it took a year for her to get one?
Dunno man. But you could answer that question by looking at the picture of the MRI scan in TFA.
I'm voting for Pedro. (Score:1)
Hell nah on the brain parasite, phoning a friend.
They are taking over! (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:3)
Poetin, ...
Are you talking about the Russian Dictator, or that gravy-on-french-fries things Canadians do?
Either seems equally crazy...
Re: They are taking over! (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Putain!
Re: (Score:2)
Poetin, ...
Are you talking about the Russian Dictator, or that gravy-on-french-fries things Canadians do?
Either seems equally crazy...
Ahem, Chips and gravy is not exclusively a Canadian thing and it is quite awesome. I believe the Canadians add cheese which just ruins it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
I take the word of lawsuit happy hookers as gospel, too.
Bro! High five!
Al (Score:2)
Hoe come Al didn't detect this? I thought Al was so smart.
Dr. House M.D. wouldn't have taken a whole year (Score:4, Funny)
He would have taken around 60 minutes, less commercial breaks.
Re: Dr. House M.D. wouldn't have taken a whole yea (Score:2)
He would have had at least two false diagnoses first, one of which would likely lead to a traumatic test or treatment, and there's a good chance he would reveal your spouse was cheating on you.
Re: (Score:2)
He would have had at least two false diagnoses first, one of which would likely lead to a traumatic test or treatment, and there's a good chance he would reveal your spouse was cheating on you.
Fair point - he might have had fewer false diagnoses than the Drs in this real life case!
Make it stop (Score:2)
I thought I had a brain worm [urbandictionary.com] once. It turned out to be a Baby Shark.
Which SCP is this? (Score:2)
I am so glad I read this in the morning instead of before bed.
nice evolutionary path that.... (Score:2)
"O. robertsi adults inhabit the snakes' esophagus and stomach and release their eggs in the snakes' feces. From there, the eggs are picked up by small mammals that the snakes feed upon. The larvae develop and establish in the small mammals, growing quite long despite the small size of the animals, and the worm's life cycle is complete when the snake eats the infected prey."
Soo-- small mammals eat snake shit, that is composed of undigested material of their own ancestors-in order to pass the eggs along to t
Re: (Score:2)
Wot - no trichonosis yet? (Score:2)
FTFwikilink ;
A bit off topic but potentially helpful. (Score:1)
I was recently admitted for what appeared to be a major heart attack.
I was in intense pain which duplicated the pattern of a heart attack.
But it was not a heart attack (blood tests showed no heart damage). The doctors gave me a cat scan, morphine (useless), and finally said, "We are sorry you are hurting but we can't find anything life threatening except the high blood pressure from the pain.)
The actual problem?
Dislocated left rib over the heart. It was out about 1/8" and every muscle remotely attached t