highly irresponsible

Monster2

Monster2

New member
It's always amazing to me how some people just don't know when it's time to shut up.

Iowa woman swallows tapeworm to slim down
15 hrs ago
No more dieting for us! Dunk that pound cake in nacho cheese and pass it this way! Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, issued a warning after an Iowa woman admitted she swallowed a tapeworm to lose weight: “Ingesting tapeworms is extremely risky and can cause a wide range of undesirable side effects, including rare deaths.” Quinlisk did admit, however, that the woman’s risky choice would be theoretically effective: "Tapeworms will cause you to lose weight because you have this huge worm in your intestines eating your food." Ding ding ding, that’s all we need to hear! Excuse us while we run and get a family-size pan of lasagna. Also, do you know where we can find a tapeworm?
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I'm having a hard time trying to look for a reason that would make her say this, other than pure stupidity. I mean, what's the point of saying that? Encourage more people to do the same? I can't see how spreading this "Great wisdom" could help.
If you are an authority, you should know that saying things like this can and will influence some people...
 
How long before we see tape worm eggs spammed on the boards "as stated effective for weight loss by expert Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, director of the Iowa Department of Public Health"? To be honest - we get (and clear up as much as we can) so much spam here that I wouldnt be surprised if the websites selling them had been here already...

Using google just now - I quickly found a website selling them with "loose weight easily" among the claims...

Be warned people... Just because you see a website wanting to sell you something which may or may not quote a claim apparently supporting it - it doesnt mean that it is a good idea. It could be downright dangerous...
 
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Actually, this Patricia woman is an idiot - because a tape worm would not make a noticeable difference, weight loss wise. You'd need several dozen of them to achieve any kind of weight loss, and by that time, you'd be full to the hilt of worms, and most likely not have a huge chance of survival.
 
Not only is this extremely not safe, but its disgusting! Seriously who would willingly want to have a tapeworm?
 
Well, the woman may have been just very desperate and depressed. She did something stupid, but I can't totally blame her. I once drank vinegar because I read it helps.

As for the doctor, what she did is just utterly stupid, pointless and wrong. Some people never stop to amaze me.
 
AthalaRanger said:
Well, the woman may have been just very desperate and depressed. She did something stupid, but I can't totally blame her. I once drank vinegar because I read it helps.

As for the doctor, what she did is just utterly stupid, pointless and wrong. Some people never stop to amaze me.
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While I can't speak for the subject, My initial comment was concerning the doctor. While no one would agree she was wrong, it's like a psychologist saying "In theory, suicide will end your suffering"
 
And even worse, the 'doctor' was factually wrong as well. Even in theory, one single tapeworm would not be effective at all. So not only is it irresponsible, but downright stupid as well. :/
 
San..... she did say tapeworm s .....
But you know. Let's look at this another way. YES, it is irresponsible, but WHO holds the true ultimate responsibility here?
You can't really tell. You guys all know how reporters like to press the issues, and how answers to loaded questions can appear as inflammatory remarks. Reporters have all kinds of nasty tricks in their books, it may have even appeared to be nothing more than a casual conversation that the newsperson clearly abused.
I'm going to change my opinion on this and say that it certainly appears that the doctor was stupid, the ultimate failure goes to the reporter, editor, and the publication.
 
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I can't believe the lengths that some people will go to to lose weight! It is so dangerous.
 
Biologist here:

That's disgusting and dangerous.

A tapeworm is composeed of a "head" called a scolex and a body called a strobila comprised of segments called proglotids. The common one in the US is the beef tapeworm which grows to 15-20 feet long inside the intestine. The terminal segments break off and are passed through your solid waste. Each section has reproductive organs of both sexes and usually cross fertilizes with an adjacent worm. Larva form and are taken up by the intermediate host (in this case usually a cow). Then humans can get infected with those worms by eating undercooked beef.

If this women ate an adult beef tapeworm then it likely came from human feces or a human' gut. If she ate a larva then she would likely become the intermediate host which forms cysts around your organs and can kill you. Of course tapeworms n your gut can kill you too by causing blockage or allergic reactions.

Joshua, the beef tapeworm can live in a human gut for a quarter century. You have to ingest a medication that poisons or paralyzes the tapeworm. Actually it poisons you both, but hopefully only kills the tapeworm.

A lesson to those of you that think rare steaks are fine because the bacteria are on the surface. The worms, if present are in the meat itself. It is fortunate that it is uncommon for them to be present in US beef.
 
Quercus said:
Biologist here:

That's disgusting and dangerous.

A tapeworm is composeed of a "head" called a scolex and a body called a strobila comprised of segments called proglotids. The common one in the US is the beef tapeworm which grows to 15-20 feet long inside the intestine. The terminal segments break off and are passed through your solid waste. Each section has reproductive organs of both sexes and usually cross fertilizes with an adjacent worm. Larva form and are taken up by the intermediate host (in this case usually a cow). Then humans can get infected with those worms by eating undercooked beef.

If this women ate an adult beef tapeworm then it likely came from human feces or a human' gut. If she ate a larva then she would likely become the intermediate host which forms cysts around your organs and can kill you. Of course tapeworms n your gut can kill you too by causing blockage or allergic reactions.

Joshua, the beef tapeworm can live in a human gut for a quarter century. You have to ingest a medication that poisons or paralyzes the tapeworm. Actually it poisons you both, but hopefully only kills the tapeworm.

A lesson to those of you that think rare steaks are fine because the bacteria are on the surface. The worms, if present are in the meat itself. It is fortunate that it is uncommon for them to be present in US beef.
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That's good to know! Since I do VLC, I eat a lot of beef, so it's useful information. :)

I didn't know they can get inside the meat itself. That is certainly a liabilty. Means more cooking time, which translates into free radicals, carcinogens and other nasty stuff.

Important to pay attention to both (under and overcooked meat), IMO.

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*Edit and note*: I meant to say 'Thanks for the information' in the +rep comment. I accidentally pressed enter and can't fix it.
 
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I got what you meant and thanks. Glad it was of interest.

They are larva inside of cysts in their intermidiate hosts (cows). I realize I didn't make that clear before. Tapeworms change form similar to how a butterfly starts as a caterpillar except these start as eggs or body segments in poop that develop into cyst forming larva in the muscle of cow, and then develop into giant worms in the humn gut that absorb the digested food through their skin while clinging to your gut wall with a circle of hooked needles. Yuck!
 
lol surgery. as a medic i can definitely confirm this is not a healthy method of weight loss.
 
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