Tbh I feel like there's a virus or bacteria that's levelled up enough over the years to annihilate one of these buggers fairly easily. But then again I know very little about worms besides they have terrifying teeth and constantly are in a state of catastrophe anytime it rains
Okay this is kinda gross so don't read if you're not a fan of parasites. SO, parasites are honestly amazing, there is this one that takes over the neural pathways of an ant and forces it to stand on a blade of grass until it is eaten by a sheep so it can infest the sheep. If a sheep doesn't eat the ant it goes back to the ants nest and pretends to be a normal ant until the next night where it again waits for a sheep. Once it's in the sheep it makes the sheep act "stupid" so it's more likely to be eaten by a wolf so it can infest the wolf as it's final destination... if one of those could get into people....that would be a real zombie.
This is actually the more or less the same way toxoplasma gondii works, except with rats and cats. Unfortunately for it sometimes things go wrong and, instead of cats, supposedly half the adult human population of France has it
Toxoplasma gondii works by affecting the behaviour in rats, forcing them to seek out cat feces and then remain placid when the cats come to hunt them. It's effects on the human brain aren't entirely understood-- though it has been observed to increase rage and paranoia, in men in particular. Schizophrenia isn't the only mental illness they think there could be a link to, mind you
"The chronic toxoplasmosis, primarily regarded as benign and asymptomatic, might be responsible, in light of current scientific evidence, for a vast array of neuropsychiatric symptoms. Numerous epidemiological case-control studies show a higher prevalence of T. gondii infestation in individuals with various psychiatric and behavior disorders, including schizophrenia."
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/29068607/
While it's unlikely to be the actual cause of any of the illnesses, there's certainly a possibility it could be exacerbating the issues. But until more research is done we can't say for sure
Being a researcher specifically for parasites that effect the human brain would be fascinating. Just like this one you wonder how on earth the parasite is even aware of what parts of the brain do what and how to control them.
I remember there was something about a link between retroviruses (I think that's what their called) that have become so ingrained in our DNA at this point. But supposedly some of them are also potentially linked to mental illness.
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I don't know how parasites know what to do haha. Maybe there's specific proteins that attract them to certain areas of the brain or such (can you tell I know nothing about how parasites make decisions?)
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Have you ever seen "monsters inside me" ?
There's also another parasite, also a worm, that infects insects like crickets. When it needs to go through its next developmental stage - which takes place in water - it makes the insect jump into water and drown. It then wiggles out of the carcass and goes on its merry way.
oh my god have you seen videos of that?! It's freaky freaky stuff @xvarnah if you want to make your face cringe into itself I suggest watching a vid on what @guest is talking about.
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Also that's really interesting, I don't know much about that I'll have to look it up.
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Experts don't even know, that's kind of why I want to go into entomology or something once I've finished my degree,or maybe as a hobby.
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No, what's it about?
Not about that specific parasite, but I did see one about some parasite that invades wasps and I can't remember how it works exactly but it was fairly disturbing. Honestly for some reason wasps seem to either be parasitic or victims of parasites quite often. Not from the video, but There's one species of wasp that chews little hollow areas in a tree and lays it's larvae there. The larvae wait until they're fully developed in the spring and then chew their way out. However, some of them for some reason start chewing out much earlier and then stop when the hole is still far too small for them to get out. They end up dying inside the holes.
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The reason they learned was because there's another species of smaller parasitic wasp had burrowed into the original wasp's brain. They don't have the jawpower to chew through the bark of the tree, but they DO have the power to chew through their hosts' heads. So they'd force their hosts to chew a hole just large enough for the parasitic wasp itself.
Then they'd use their host to sustain themselves until the spring, and then they chew through their host's head and leave to freedom.
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Hopefully you find it interesting if you do :)
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And "monsters inside me" basically deals with re-enactments and interview of real peoples' past experiences of being infected with various parasitic creatures-- from where they think the infection started, to their confusion with symptoms, struggle for diagnosis and treatment, and end result. There are some episodes where the endings are far from happy, unfortunately. But they cover things such as the lung fluke, pork tape worms, leishmaniasis, even the black plague in one episode iirc.
Yes! I think you're talking about the ones that lay their larvae inside caterpillars? The larvae eat the caterpillar from the inside out and then fly away.
That other wasps one is amazing (yet really disturbing).
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That's so cool! is it a documentary or a film?
if I remember right the second wasps are Crypt Gall wasps, with the parasitic ones being Crypt-keeper wasps. Haha tbh a lot of wasps do that. The tarantula hawk does it with tarantulas. I think one species lays their egg on an orb weaver spider and forces it to build a cocoon around the larvae... as if I needed more reasons to dislike wasps <_< yeesh
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It was actually a TV series done by animal planet maybe. Each episode covered 1 or 2 cases I think, not always related. You're never quite sure what they're going to be about, though. I think the first one I ever saw some guy had a leech up his nose. They also talk about in at least one episode some people who willingly infect themselves with a type of parasitic worm because it helps them with their allergy symptoms of all things (these people also sell their feces to others so they, too, can infect themselves. It's a little nuts)
The way they try and survive is pretty gruesome so yeah, not a huge fan of wasps no thank u sir
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Well shoot, that's weird as fuck. But hey if it works I shouldn't judge, will definitely watch it though it sounds cool thanks for bringing it up :)
It's amazing. It's frightening, thrilling, amazingly misleading, beautiful and has an amazing cast. Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion from GOT,) Micheal Gambon (Dumbledore,) Christopher Eccleston (Dr. Who,) Robert Sheehan (Klaus from Umbrella Academy,) Stanley fucking Tucci , Dennis Quaid and so many more great actors
It's set in a fictitious Norwegian town (called Fortitude) and it starts with a man being eaten by a polar bear before being mercy killed by Dumbledore. There is an ensuing murder that really twists the brain and when you find out what really happened, it fucks your brain so bad that you then have to see another murder before you get it. More than that would be spoilers and I don't want to ruin it for anyone, it's soooo good
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/29068607/
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I don't know how parasites know what to do haha. Maybe there's specific proteins that attract them to certain areas of the brain or such (can you tell I know nothing about how parasites make decisions?)
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Have you ever seen "monsters inside me" ?
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Also that's really interesting, I don't know much about that I'll have to look it up.
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Experts don't even know, that's kind of why I want to go into entomology or something once I've finished my degree,or maybe as a hobby.
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No, what's it about?
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The reason they learned was because there's another species of smaller parasitic wasp had burrowed into the original wasp's brain. They don't have the jawpower to chew through the bark of the tree, but they DO have the power to chew through their hosts' heads. So they'd force their hosts to chew a hole just large enough for the parasitic wasp itself.
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Hopefully you find it interesting if you do :)
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And "monsters inside me" basically deals with re-enactments and interview of real peoples' past experiences of being infected with various parasitic creatures-- from where they think the infection started, to their confusion with symptoms, struggle for diagnosis and treatment, and end result. There are some episodes where the endings are far from happy, unfortunately. But they cover things such as the lung fluke, pork tape worms, leishmaniasis, even the black plague in one episode iirc.
That other wasps one is amazing (yet really disturbing).
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That's so cool! is it a documentary or a film?
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It was actually a TV series done by animal planet maybe. Each episode covered 1 or 2 cases I think, not always related. You're never quite sure what they're going to be about, though. I think the first one I ever saw some guy had a leech up his nose. They also talk about in at least one episode some people who willingly infect themselves with a type of parasitic worm because it helps them with their allergy symptoms of all things (these people also sell their feces to others so they, too, can infect themselves. It's a little nuts)
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Well shoot, that's weird as fuck. But hey if it works I shouldn't judge, will definitely watch it though it sounds cool thanks for bringing it up :)