The Arizona Republic has raised an interesting question. Is it possible to use tapeworms as a diet aid? Won't the tape worm just sit in your stomach and consume all the extra food you eat, and after a while you can pull out the thing? The basic answer is no. This would not be a good idea. They go into some more details:
While a tapeworm might take in some of the food you do, it would at the same time be taking in a lot of vitamins and other nutrients you need to stay healthy. Do you know what ascites are? A big pool of fluid in your tummy caused by an immune response to something in your guts. Something like a tapeworm. It gives you a big potbelly, which runs kind of counter to the look you might be wishing for. And a tapeworm might not necessarily just set up camp in your innards. It can also cause cysts in your muscles, liver and eyes. Your eyes! So don't you think it might be easier instead to just eat a bit less and exercise a bit more?
Comments
When I or somebody else was eating large amounts of food, my Mom used to say facetiously, "You must have a tapeworm." I always assumed this was an old saying, but maybe Mom made it up herself.
I've heard though, that when they come out it's not so fun.
Your stomach? No. Too much acid. Try your small intestine. Much harder to "pull something out" of your small intestine.
Someone is really stupid enough to think a tapeworm is a little worm that sits in your tummy and eats your food, kinda sad. The reality is, it's a huge (tiny circumference, but can be many yards long) parasite that coils in your bowels, leaching vital nutrients and inflicting loathsome discomfort and disease.
Another urban legend based on ignorance and immaturity. You know what I blame? Too much church, not enough school, that's what's wrong with America....
Yes, Ledasmom, one of my cats had tapeworms when I first got him (he was the orphan kitten of a feral mother). It took several rounds of the worm medicine to get rid of them. I'll resist describing all the signs of the infestation, but I agree, it wasn't pleasant.
However I saw a BBC doco ("Bodysnatchers") where they have been using miscellaneous gutworms as immunosuppressant symbiotes in hypersensitivity diseases. Apparently because your body is busy attacking worms, it doesn't get so stimulated by allergens etc.
This story just reminded me of that one.
Tapeworms (and other worms) can also cause cysts in your brain or spinal cord. As a sidenote, I've also seen dogs and cats vomit up worms if they have a severe infestation. And tapeworms also release their segments into the feces, so the first clue that your pet has a tapeworm is the presence of the segments stuck to its tail area. Doesn't sound to me like that's worth a little weight loss.
Amen brother. (Pun intended, but I really am agreeing with you.)
Of course, it was mostly the way he said it...that raspy voice of his could make anything sound scary and interesting.
Nothing like sitting down to Sunday dinner as a ten-year-old and learning about the New Orleans Axe Murderer.
I wonder if it's out on DVD yet?
shut the fuck up know it all shit face -- (excuse the language) but number one you can say one thing without having to make other people feel uncomfortable and youre an ass for acting like you know everything and making fun of what she said. sorry that you feel so bad about youself that you have to get on this website and make someone else feel stupid -- what a douche
Don't be silly!
PS - Tyler, around here we prefer the term "faggity douche bag" if you don't mind!
😉
Posted by melissa on Sun Nov 13, 2005 at 05:05 PM"
why would you be interested where to get it. its disgusting. a tapeworm.. inside your intestines. if you need to diet and you think thats the way to do it, stop being lazy and get off your ass and excersise.. don't put a worm inside yourself.
for your information I am very active it is just that I have shin splints so bad that I have multiple hairline fractures, which i have been going to physical therapy for 4 years to help fix it. it makes it very painful to many high impact exercises so i'm stuck with swimming( which i hate) and rollerblading when there isn't snow on the ground( 8 months of the year where i'm from). so if you do know where to get a tape worm then i would be delighted to know where because i still want to get one.
where ?
I accidentaly found this site and just wanted to say that although people can live with certain types of tapeworm for many years without too big problems, they can eventually duplicate in large numbers and basically eat you alive. If you go to a party and accidentaly throw up at night there is a big chance the larvae might spread to organs such as brain, eyes and heart and it will give you various symptoms such as migraines, lethargy, depression, sight problems and even seizures. It's the most common reason for seizures actually. Also it carries lots of bad bacteria such as streptococks(spelling?) which acts like a virus in the body and can shut down the immunesystem completely by attacking the t-cells and is a large problem in most AIDS patients. Actually most AIDS patients have tapeworm infestations among with various other chemicals and infections, so it's pretty serious. Please don't buy that product.
It worked, but passing the worm was very disconcerting. It moves out in your sleep and lays between your legs. So not worth loosing 15 pounds.
Now about that parasite you want to put into your body...dont do it. If your friend is in fact skinny from the tapeworm dont forget she has a completely different genetic makeup than you, it could have no effect on you or even kill you, is that a risk worth taking for vanity?
It's not like they just have a little mouth that eats the food, the entire surface area of their tegument absorbs your needed NUTRIENTS. They can self-fertilize so you no matter what pass your "diet" to intermediate hosts who really do not want it, then they pass it to other humans! Beef tapeworms can reach a length of 10 metres or more! Basically the worms are like a sidewalk with the blocks attatching to each other, they just continue to make new "blocks" (proglottids) daily, they even crawl out of the anus because so many are made...wouldn't that be nice, something crawling out of your ass while you are at work.
Pork tapeworms are very dangerous because the eggs migrate to any of several organs and form cysticerci which results in cysticercosis usually occuring in the brain or eyes and result in blindness, serious neurological symptoms or DEATH! A cross-section of the brain actually has holes in it, that is so good for losing a few pounds.
Fish tapeworms can be 20 m long and can cause anemia.
The dog tapeworm (which humans can also get) can grow in you for 20 years and cause a cyst the size of a basketball in an unrestricted site like the liver but in a restricted site like the heart or CNS which will kill you, the only way to get rid of these tapeworms is by surgery.
Hopefully now that you are more informed you will at least have second thoughts.
If you want to lose weight get off your rear and jog, you have shin splints...then go swimming. Eat healthy, don't follow the national food guide because it is based on days when everyone was farming and a lot more active. That is too much food. Just monitor your calorie intake, eat less, don't eat after 7PM (do the math for shift work what 7PM would be considered to be), and exercise damnit. It takes a long time to lose weight, don't be discouraged. Some people are genetically predisposed to be a bit thick and have to work a lot harder but stick with a routine. If you feel you NEED to diet I have studied them and I feel that "The Zone" is the best for your body. But you have to stick with that too, no cheating, no junk food. You still get to eat fats, carbs, and protein, just in the proper proportions.
If you are wondering why I am even on this site , one of my Prof's offered us bonus marks for finding a site that sells tapeworms. It honestly used to be sold as a diet pill, I have seen the ads. And as I have been by my Prof.it still is.
Also interesting note, she ordered something that was supposed to remove leg hair long time ago, and her hair never grew back. It terrifies me to think about what might have been in that concoction.
What we should be saying is...ok there are some side effects, can we manage these? How do we manage these? Stop moralizing this problem as some sort of lack of will power. People spend thier lives in the gym and on a diet and get no where.
I used to be thin, but hurt myself and gained a lot wieght. I CANT work out like I used to especially not at my wieght. I would love to find a tapeworm, and if the doctors would stop looking at us as if we were winers and actually try to help us manage the side effects...genetically altered/attenuated worms....GOSH. You all are seeming to say that a worm is riskier then gastric bypass surgery, or any of a number of these horendous drugs. Remember Terry Shribo? Smell the coffee, people are DYING of this.
I heard that you can order them from mexico, but I am still looking, anyone know more. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
((Oh, and, just so you know, I hadn't eaten spaghetti or anything of that sort.))
check out the wikiepedia entry on tapeworms...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapeworm
okay, u may not get to the worst extent. But an 80 foot tape worm in my stomach is more than enuf to turn me completely off even thinkin about this crazy idea. Good luck to any of u that have the insane idea to try it!
You
How about not enough school, not enough church, and entirely too much Hollywood?
I considered the tapeworm myself, but the more I read, the more stupid it does start to sound. Now they have so many surgeries you can take (gastric bypasses, tummy tucks, liposuction) I don't know how much the bypass is but the others are about $5000 where I am. I would rather spend $5000 and have a qualified licensed professional cut me open take out my fat and stitch me back up, then order a random pill (that could have anything in it) from Mexico, probably pay at least $100 for it, so it can give me a 10m long parasite that will eat my insides. Just a thought!
>>"It's staggering how VANITY can lead people to do such amazingly stupid things."<<
clearly the girls who are trying to diet with tapeworms have loss touch with rationality. They are likely suffering from an eating disorder which is a SERIOUS MEDICAL ILLNESS. they need professional help, not some ignoramus chiding them for having a DISEASE. Heroin addicts go on the black market to try to find cheap highs. Likewise, these girls are trying to find easy wt loss. I wouldn't be surprised if you girls are actually UNDERWEIGHT or normal weight, yet still feel the compulsive drive to lose more. Or, perhaps you feel *addicted* to bingeing (and perhaps, purging) and you see the tapeworm as a 'glorious' solution---you can binge all you want and not have to purge anymore and STILL maintain weight! nope, doesn't work that way.
So yes, Charbrydis from Hell, perhaps vanity can make one do stupid things. unfortunately, this is a moot point for this thread. why don't you try re-phrasing your insult into something quasi-credible . . . Try this instead: ADDICTION and MENTAL ILLNESS can make one do seemingly (to the rest of the world) IRRATIONAL things.
oh, and why i'm on this site? well, i'm a recovered anorexic and tried the tape worm thing once myself. i nearly died from a heart attack as the worm through off my already imbalance electrolytes and leached the sparse reserve of nutrients i had left in my body.
just wanted to save others from going through the same.
much love,
e