Ever take you dog to the vet to get dewormed?
Yeah fun facts, humans get worms too.
Lots of them.
So what are these parasites inside us?
hey guys Julia here for DNews
Worms are some of the least loved creatures on this planet.
From earthworms, to the parasites that live inside of us, they just seem creepy, crawly
and slimy.
But as disgusting as they are, we’ve evolved with them, and getting rid of them completely,
might just make us sick.
But first, let’s talk about how these parasitic worms do harm to our bodies.
Pinworms, a small intestinal parasite, which the Journal of Dermatology says 30-50% of
the world has, doesn’t often cause serious illness but can cause some uncomfortable itching...when
it comes out of your anus to lay its eggs.
We get tapeworms, another intestinal parasite, that sneaks into our bodies when we eat undercooked
beef or pork.
They cause stomach pains, nausea, and weight loss.
Hookworms latch onto the insides of your intestines and suck out the blood.
Which can lead to anemia, slower cognitive growth, and malnutrition.
And whipworm, which in heavy infestations cause intestinal problems like diarrhea and
dysentery.
Yet probably the most dreaded worm is the nasty Guinea worm.
A worm so heinous, that President Jimmy Carter led the fight to eliminate it in 1986.
When Carter’s quest first begin, there were around 3.5 million cases in the world.
Last year, there were only 22.
So pretty successful campaign.
The worms typically get into your body by drinking contaminated water.
Horrifically, the worms will later crawl out of your skin, typically in the legs.
And it CAN TAKE DAYS TO PULL THEM OUT.
DAYS.
When leaving the body, the wounds they create can sometimes lead to deadly infections.
So I agree with Jimmy Carter and say good riddance to these guys.
But how do our bodies not get rid of them?
I mean, humans evolved with some of these parasites for at least 10,000 years according
to a study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
We might even have a symbiotic relationship with them.
They scratch our backs, we scratch theirs.
Or more like, we give them a home and food and they calm down our immune systems.
Seriously there’s evidence.
Well one study published in the journal Nature found that some parasitic worms actually change
our immune systems.
And according to the book, “The Th2 Type Immune Response in Health and Disease“ several
studies in mice show that parasitic worms suppress the immune system.
They promote certain populations of regulatory cells in the body called Tregs and B regulatory
cells.
These cells play important roles in reducing the severity of autoimmune diseases and allergic
inflammation.
By dampening down the immune systems, the worms won’t be attacked, while at the same
time, the mice get a break from allergies and other autoimmune diseases.
As for how parasitic worms affect humans well, that’s more complicated because infected
humans with parasitic worms doesn’t seem like that fundable of a study.
But that didn’t stop one guy.
A case study published in journal Science Translational Medicine found that one person
voluntarily infected himself with Human whipworm and claimed it successfully treated his ulcerative
colitis.
Basically the worms lowered uncomfortable gut inflammation and promoted mucus production,
which is important for healing.
One of the authors of the paper told NPR that other studies suggest parasites keep the immune
system in check and “prevent it from going wild and attacking healthy tissue.”
While that’s just one guy, another recent study published in the Journal of Allergy
and Clinical Immunology found that hookworms reduced the symptoms of celiac disease, another
autoimmune disease.
So while parasitic worms seem pretty nasty, okay they are really nasty and have caused
a lot of a harm, maybe by keeping our immune systems in check,so they can continue to live
inside of us, they actually give us a little benefit too.
Gross.
If you don’t find it all that gross why don’t you start your own website like wormsarentgross.com
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CTA video While I’m not going to go around popping
worm pills to treat my allergies, it does make us stop and think.
Maybe we’re living too cleanly.
In fact that’s the premise of the hygiene hypothesis, that figures our modern cleanliness
might be giving us allergies.
To find out more check out this episode, right here.
So have you ever had a parasite infection?
Tell us about it down in the comments below