Jenn
ZooKeeper
Have any of you seen Monsters Inside Me or Eaten Alive on the Animal Planet channel? I saw both episodes yesterday, they air on Wednesdays. They are shows about real cases of parasites that have gotten into people and the effects they had on them. The majority of the parasites were different kinds of tape worms and round worms. The worst case was an 11 month old boy whose parents frequently took him to play at the local playground. One day he started sleeping a lot more, which continued to get worse. Then he started tipping over when crawling, which continued to get worse. Doctors didn't know what was wrong with him. He ended up losing most of his eyesight, lost the ability to crawl, and would cry the day away until he went to sleep. It turned out he had picked up some sort of roundworm that was in the feces of a racoon. These roundworms(I believe it was in egg form) can lie dorment for many years. The child came in contact with the feces and the roundworms "woke up" once inside his body and made their way up to his brain. They had eaten most of his brain before the diagnosis had been made. There is antiparasitic meds and they eventually killed all the parasites in him. He actually recovered more than the docs at first thought. He learned to crawl again by 3 years of age and eventually learned to walk. He regained his eyesight enough to recognize faces.
All of these stories were hard to watch, but yet fascinating at the same time. You can get these parasites from water, from the earth, and from uncooked meats. They are called sleeper cells and awaken when the conditions are right. They can remain dormant inside your body for years and years. It is such a horrible thought.
The shows are on Wednesdays on Animal Planet and it is worth watching one so you become more aware. They are also good to watch if you like to be grossed out!
All of these stories were hard to watch, but yet fascinating at the same time. You can get these parasites from water, from the earth, and from uncooked meats. They are called sleeper cells and awaken when the conditions are right. They can remain dormant inside your body for years and years. It is such a horrible thought.
The shows are on Wednesdays on Animal Planet and it is worth watching one so you become more aware. They are also good to watch if you like to be grossed out!
