Author Topic: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!  (Read 4100 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Valerius

  • Pope
  • ****
  • Posts: 444
  • Gender: Male
  • Gentlemen.
Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« on: July 29, 2013, 05:43:38 pm »
...well if you have an autoimmune disease, that is.

So basically, the idea is that if you have a disease like multiple sclerosis or Crohn's where your immune system is going nuts and destroying your own body, a possible solution is to swallow some nematodes, specifically human whipworms, pig whipworms, or hookworms. The idea comes from evolution being applied to medicine, and it actually sounds fairly promising (Take that, fundies!).

The idea is that before we had modern medicine and super-clean environments, parasites were a very real danger for most of humanity. You probably know that when any foreign biological matter enters our bodies, our immune systems attack and destroy it. Parasites aren't exempt from this. So over time, they evolved mechanisms to suppress the immune systems of the hosts they infect, which included our ancestors. In response, our ancestors evolved more robust immune systems that could counter the defenses of the parasites, and a sort of balance was attained. Now take away the parasites and throw in sterile environments, and you have very strong immune systems with nothing to fight, so they turn on their own bodies. The fact that the developing world, known for being dirtier than the West, has substantially fewer cases of autoimmune disease among their populations seems to support this hypothesis.

So a possible solution would be to intentionally infect patients suffering from certain autoimmune diseases with parasites. Pig whipworms are considered the safest. Since they evolved in pigs, they can't successfully reproduce in humans, so they're easier to control and can't develop into an infection that spirals out of control.

Clinical trials are already under way. Here are a few stats from the article:

Quote
For the next three months, he [a patient with MS] and four others visited the lab every two weeks to swallow doses of 2,500 parasite eggs. At the start of the trial, MRI scans showed patients had an average of 6.6 active lesions – scars on the protective layer around nerve cells that disrupt the transmission of electrical messages in the brain and spinal cord. By the end of the study, that number had dropped to two. Two months after discontinuing the worm treatment, the lesions rebounded to an average of 5.8.

Quote
In 1999, when Elliott and Weinstock first found that helminths protected mice against colitis, news spread fast. Six years later, the group published the result of two preliminary trials in humans. In one, involving 54 ulcerative colitis patients, 43% of those given pig whipworm eggs improved, compared with only 17% who received placebos. In a second trial 29 patients with Crohn’s disease took whipworm eggs every three weeks. By the end of 24 weeks, 79% had reduced disease activity and 72% had gone into remission.

Offline RavynousHunter

  • Master Thief
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 8108
  • Gender: Male
  • A man of no consequence.
    • My Twitter
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2013, 06:17:44 pm »
O.o  Fuck yeah, evolution?  This is awesome, yet freaky and somewhat disgusting, lol.
Quote from: Bra'tac
Life for the sake of life means nothing.

wrightway

  • Guest
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2013, 06:56:50 pm »
Didn't they do this on a House episode?

Offline Cataclysm

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 2458
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2013, 07:24:53 pm »
I think stem cell research will lead to more promising results, but this seems interesting.
I'd be more sympathetic if people here didn't act like they knew what they were saying when they were saying something very much wrong.

Quote
Commenter Brendan Rizzo is an American (still living there) who really, really hates America. He used to make posts defending his country from anti-American attacks but got fed up with it all.

Offline Sigmaleph

  • Ungodlike
  • Administrator
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 3615
    • sigmaleph on tumblr
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2013, 07:43:19 pm »
Didn't they do this on a House episode?

I was thinking the same thing. The one with the guy who was a porn actor.
Σא

Offline Cerim Treascair

  • My Love Is Lunar
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 3092
  • Gender: Male
  • Get me my arbalest... explosive bolts, please.
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2013, 09:11:46 pm »
This is weiiiiiiiird... but kinda neat!
There is light and darkness in the world, to be sure.  However, there's no harm to be had in walking in the shade or shadows.

Formerly Priestling

"I don't give a fuck about race...I'm white, I'm American, but that shit don't matter.  I'm human."

Offline Radiation

  • ILLUMINATI...ASSEMBLE!
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 1289
  • Gender: Female
  • Just Radiation, I am so uncreative
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2013, 10:29:11 pm »
Oddly I have watched "Monsters Inside Me" on Youtube but I don't think they did one on the pig whipworm. This is interesting but also squicky at the same time.
Quote
"Radiation, were beauty measured by the soul instead of the body, you would be legendary on the status of Helen of Troy. Be strong." -The Sandman

Offline Witchyjoshy

  • SHITLORD THUNDERBASTARD!!
  • Kakarot
  • ******
  • Posts: 9044
  • Gender: Male
  • Thinks he's a bard
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2013, 11:15:56 pm »
Hey, leeches are still a viable form of medicine for all the ails that they DO apply to.

Hell there's actually cases of bee stings being used medicinally.

In a way, this is our form of evolution.  We study things that hurt and kill us and find out how to make them heal us instead.

...Or as a form of "plastic surgery", as with jellyfish venom.

That being said, there's a reason why I oppose the whole notion of "Sterilize ALL the things" and all the commercials gloating about how they kill 99.9% of all bacteria on a surface (that 0.1% of bacteria that don't die become resistant, and they will breed, and those supergerms will infect you, and your immune system won't have built up to it like it would've if you hadn't been so obsessive about disinfecting things.)
Mockery of ideas you don't comprehend or understand is the surest mark of unintelligence.

Even the worst union is better than the best Walmart.

Caladur's Active Character Sheet

Offline Valerius

  • Pope
  • ****
  • Posts: 444
  • Gender: Male
  • Gentlemen.
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2013, 11:21:14 pm »
That being said, there's a reason why I oppose the whole notion of "Sterilize ALL the things" and all the commercials gloating about how they kill 99.9% of all bacteria on a surface (that 0.1% of bacteria that don't die become resistant, and they will breed, and those supergerms will infect you, and your immune system won't have built up to it like it would've if you hadn't been so obsessive about disinfecting things.)

That reminded me of this George Carlin skit.

Offline RavynousHunter

  • Master Thief
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 8108
  • Gender: Male
  • A man of no consequence.
    • My Twitter
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2013, 12:00:04 am »
While I try to keep shit clean, more out of OCD than fear of pathogens, I'm not afraid of getting dirty if I need to do so.  Fuck, I've lived in places that were, a great many times, at least unsanitary.  Living with tons of cats and all the literal and figurative shit that brings, I've built up a pretty damn fine immune system.  My addiction to orange juice might help there, too, alongside my propensity for eating a variety of things, lol.

Also, as a kid, I apparently ate more than one quartz crystal...and expired birth control pills.  Sooooooooooooo...I may or may not have an iron gut, as well.
Quote from: Bra'tac
Life for the sake of life means nothing.

Offline Shane for Wax

  • Official Mosin Nagant Fanboy, Crazy, and Lord of Androgynes
  • Kakarot
  • ******
  • Posts: I am a geek!!
  • Gender: Male
  • Twin to shy, lover of weapons, pagan, wolf-brother
    • Game Podunk
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2013, 03:33:58 pm »
I'm reminded for some reason of the fact that they do poop transplants to fill someone else's insides with healthy parasites and the like.

&
"The human race. Greatest monsters of them all."
"Ke barjurir gar'ade, jagyc'ade kot'la a dalyc'ade kotla'shya."
Fucking Dalek twats I’m going to twat you over the head with my fucking TARDIS you fucking fucks!

Offline Valerius

  • Pope
  • ****
  • Posts: 444
  • Gender: Male
  • Gentlemen.
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2013, 04:51:11 pm »
Poop transplants to move parasites? Why not just ingest the parasites directly. Seems simpler. And less gross.

Offline RavynousHunter

  • Master Thief
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 8108
  • Gender: Male
  • A man of no consequence.
    • My Twitter
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2013, 04:53:50 pm »
Because SCIENCE!
Quote from: Bra'tac
Life for the sake of life means nothing.

Offline Flying Mint Bunny!

  • Zoot be praised and to His Chosen victory
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 873
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #13 on: July 30, 2013, 04:59:48 pm »
Poop transplants to move parasites? Why not just ingest the parasites directly. Seems simpler. And less gross.

Maybe the parasites need the poop?

Offline Shane for Wax

  • Official Mosin Nagant Fanboy, Crazy, and Lord of Androgynes
  • Kakarot
  • ******
  • Posts: I am a geek!!
  • Gender: Male
  • Twin to shy, lover of weapons, pagan, wolf-brother
    • Game Podunk
Re: Parasites: THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!
« Reply #14 on: July 30, 2013, 05:00:27 pm »
Poop transplants to move parasites? Why not just ingest the parasites directly. Seems simpler. And less gross.

Idk man I just report on it.

&
"The human race. Greatest monsters of them all."
"Ke barjurir gar'ade, jagyc'ade kot'la a dalyc'ade kotla'shya."
Fucking Dalek twats I’m going to twat you over the head with my fucking TARDIS you fucking fucks!