March 6, 2026

Parasites & People

Send a text Parasites spark equal parts fascination and fear—and they reveal how closely our health is tied to animals, food, water, and the places we live. We take you from the “heirlooms” we inherited from primate ancestors to the “souvenirs” picked up through agriculture and travel, then unpack what parasites actually do to the human body and why some symptoms are red flags while others are everyday noise. Along the way, we fact-check the social media wellness trend pushing “parasite clean...

Send a text

Parasites spark equal parts fascination and fear—and they reveal how closely our health is tied to animals, food, water, and the places we live. We take you from the “heirlooms” we inherited from primate ancestors to the “souvenirs” picked up through agriculture and travel, then unpack what parasites actually do to the human body and why some symptoms are red flags while others are everyday noise. Along the way, we fact-check the social media wellness trend pushing “parasite cleanses,” and explain how self‑diagnosis and self-treatment often misses the mark.

Grounded in One Health, we map the real exposure routes—undercooked meat, raw dairy products, and unclean water—and share a clinical vignette of a severe parasitic infection to separate rare but serious danger from common myths. Then we get practical: how proven antiparasitics work, what side effects to expect as parasites lose their grip, and why supportive care for anemia and nutrition matters just as much as killing the parasites.

At the heart of the conversation is trust. People want agency and clear language; medicine offers evidence and accountability. We aim to bridge both—respecting traditional knowledge where it’s validated, challenging hype where it’s not, and highlighting the reliable guidance out there.

If this conversation sparked your interest in parasites and health, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review. Your feedback steers future topics—what should we fact-check next?

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00:09 - One Health And Today’s Focus

00:44 - Parasites 101: Heirlooms And Souvenirs

02:20 - What Parasites Do To The Body

03:28 - Tapeworm Diets And Real Risks

04:48 - Personal Exposure And Hygiene Basics

06:12 - Wellness Trends And Self‑Diagnosis

08:22 - Why Regulation And Trials Matter

10:15 - Black Walnut, Wormwood, And Safety

12:23 - Tradition, Nature, And Evidence

14:05 - Misinformation, AI Reviews, And Trust

16:06 - Real Parasite Cases And Red Flags

18:00 - How People Actually Get Exposed

19:30 - Proven Treatments And Mechanisms

21:20 - Ivermectin Myths And Dosing Dangers

22:50 - Severe Infections And Surgical Care

24:04 - Takeaways, Access, And Closing

WEBVTT

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This is a podcast about OneHealt.

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The idea that the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment that we all share are intrinsically linked.

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Coming to you from a team of scientists, physicians, and veterinarians, this is Infectious Science.

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Where enthusiasm for science is contagious.

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Hey guys, welcome back to the Infectious Science Podcast with your hosts, Christina, and the lovely Camille.

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It's your favorite deal.

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We're back again.

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And this time around, we're bringing a bit of a shorter podcast to you guys.

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And today we're going to be talking about parasites and the people who have them.

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Camille, you want to kick us off?

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Yeah, yeah.

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So I will say first and foremost that for anyone squeamish out there, I will not be eating pasta for at least several months now after stenosites.

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After doing the research for this episode.

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Yeah, I was like, oh wow, spaghetti's out for a while.

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But, anyways, to get into the actual science of parasites, humans are host for a lot of different parasites.

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So there's almost 300 species of parasitic worms and over 70 species of protozoa that can infect us.

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And what I thought was really interesting when I was getting into this episode was that one review article I found suggested that parasites that infect humans can be classified as either heirlooms or souvenirs, which makes them sound more specimen than they are.

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And that is such an interesting comparison.

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I know.

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But it does make sense, right?

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Like heirlooms are these parasites that we really inherited from our primate ancestors in Africa.

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And then souvenirs are those that we have acquired from animals, which we've come in contact with during evolution, migration, and agricultural practices.

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And I would also assume hunting is in with that as well.

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So, you know, it's always interesting.

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I think some people really like to think about this on some level: did we really evolve to persist despite our parasite exposure?

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And probably, right?

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Because a lot of our food and water resources were likely contaminated with parasites.

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But infection with parasites leads to some really nasty effects for people.

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So it can lead to anemia, lethargy, GI issues, a ton of other systemic problems, and also pretty drastic weight loss.

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And what I found really interesting when I was getting into this episode is that in the early 1900s, there were these fad diets that people would swallow pills containing beef tapeworms.

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And the theory was that the parasites would like reach maturity in the intestines and then cause weight loss.

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Of course, that would also cause diarrhea and vomiting and other effects you don't want to deal with.

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And then basically, people would reach their goal weight, quote unquote, and they would then take an antiparasitic to kill off their tapeworms.

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But as you can imagine, this is super risky, right?

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Because things like tapeworms can grow up to 30 feet in length.

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I just want you to take a moment and picture something that's 30 feet long, like a, I don't know, like I'm thinking like a bus, you know?

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They can cause illnesses like headaches, they can certainly cause eye problems, you can get meningitis, epilepsy, they can also cause dementia, which I did not know.

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So there's a lot of side effects of people who actually have parasitic infections.

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But I would say that in in the day-to-day life, most people are not going to come in contact with parasites.

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It's going to be pretty unlikely if you're living in something like a city or in a wealthy country, there's not a lot of chance for you to come in contact with parasites that are going to make you super sick.

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Exactly.

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And I can attest to that.

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And I even lived in the middle of the rainforest for a period of time, and I've never had a diagnosis of a parasitic infection.

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So as interesting as it is to learn about parasites and think about the pretty insane things that they can do, I think it's safe to say that for the most part, if you're living in a wealthier country, like you said, you're pretty clear of a parasitic infection.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And even I grew up on a farm.

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I was certainly deworming cows.

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And I grew up working in a vet clinic, and we would have pets come in that were strays that were like full of worms.

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Like their bellies would be bloated with worms, right?

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Which is super sad to see.

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But also, if there was going to be an exposure, that's when you're going to get an exposure.

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Never in my life have I ever had any issues with parasitic exposure, despite growing up in conditions that historically would have primed humans for it.

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And why not?

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Because good hand washing and good hygiene and wearing gloves and stuff like that.

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But even dealing with animals that at times had parasites are at risk.

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And there are some ways that people can actually become at risk, and I'll talk about those later.

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But I know you wanted to talk about a social media trend around parasites.

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Yeah.

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So the reason I wanted us to talk about this topic, how it came to my radar, really, was because on social media, I know Camille doesn't have social media, but on my social media, I keep seeing more and more these wellness trends, or maybe this wellness industry push about parasite infections in people throughout the US and just self-diagnosing of parasitic infections and selling these quick fixes and parasite cleanses that are more often than not just herbal remedies that aren't necessarily proven to do anything against parasites.

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And I know I don't want us to get pushback or anything like that, but I think it's really interesting to talk about because a lot of the times what we see in pop culture really influences effects of our population's health further down the line.

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And some symptoms that people, I was about to say patients, but people are using to self-diagnose parasitic infections with are symptoms such as bloating, abdominal pain, cramping, chronic fatigue, etc.

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And while these symptoms can definitely be side effects of an actual active parasitic infection, they're also side effects of a multitude of other potential causes.

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And so I think it's important to stress that it's really necessary for someone to actually go to a medical provider and be examined and be tested before starting any kind of treatment for a parasitic infection because you don't want to be treating yourself for something that you don't have.

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Yeah.

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And also, yeah, I just want to add a note here.

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Everything you mentioned, bloating, abdominal pain, cramping, chronic fatigue, all of that can also go along with things like stress with diet.

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We know that we're eating a diet that we didn't necessarily evolve to eat that's full of processed sugars and things like that.

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Or even where when we go to Dr.

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Google, we really shouldn't be.

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Because if you type in you're not feeling well and you give your symptoms to Google on maybe the AI little synopsis might convince you you're dying.

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Exactly.

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Yes.

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So it that's just something I wanted to throw out there that there is definitely this with self-diagnosis.

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And we've talked about the wellness industry before, and I think what's particularly that I want to point out here is I think the wellness industry thrives in our current system because it is often in plain language and it puts the power to the people of you're basically saying, Oh, I have this or I have that, and self-diagnosing, and also it's in language that people understand.

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Um but that is many times a fallacy, right?

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There's a reason that we have the medical system we have in place where it takes years of dedication and hard work to get through medical school to the point where you can then even go to residency and learn even more.

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And I understand why the wellness industry has gotten as big as it has, because people want to feel in control of their own health.

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And I think a lot of times in our medical system, it can feel like you don't, or that it's expensive or hard to access, or really it can be jargony.

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And there's definitely issues within that system.

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But I do think there's a lot more issues in the wellness industry because it isn't regulated and because there's no accountability if something really goes wrong.

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Yeah, exactly.

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And that's what me as a future medical provider get so scared about when it comes down to these over-the-counter quick fixes and supplements, sold the solutions to problems that maybe aren't even there, is the fact that these things can possibly be doing a lot more harm than they could be doing good.

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And when it comes down to it, I don't want anyone to have horrible side effects of something.

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I don't want anyone to be spending a lot of money on things that maybe they could be putting their money to better use for or anything like that.

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And so it's just troubling at times to see people self-diagnosing and maybe people investing a lot in something that really isn't bettering them or their lives as much as something else that they could be investing in would.

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So yeah, I think what you're saying is I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this.

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I feel very strongly that people do need to have an active role in their health, and of course, people do know their bodies because they're living in them, but that's very different than self-prescribing something, right?

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I know somebody that is a distant relation in my family and has a whole box, and there's minerals and like plants and things in it.

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And for a very long time, this person would open that box and go through it and pick what they thought called to them or smelled right or whatever, because they felt that this was something that their body was missing, and that's why they must be getting this kind of intuitive feeling about it.

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But that's also really dangerous, right?

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None of that is regulated.

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And in a lot of cases, things like minerals, you don't know if they're contaminated with heavy metals or even with plants and things like that.

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We've even seen that in the exercise complex where people were trying to take protein powders, but because they weren't regulated, they had contaminants in them that could be really toxic to your health.

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And so I think that there's this very fine line to walk of yes, you deserve agency over your health because it is the body you're living in, but also we should exercise some caution in that we don't always have intimate knowledge of the biochemistry of our bodies or the immunology or things like that and how things are working on a molecular level.

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And until we use the tools, I think that we have in medicine, a lot of things can be missed or can be misdiagnosed just based on an intuitive feeling.

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Yeah, I think you phrase that beautifully.

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And that's absolutely true.

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If someone listening to this ever feels like they've been trying to communicate with a medical professional time and time again about the symptoms they're feeling, and they just don't feel like they're being heard.

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I'm so sorry that that's been your experience.

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I'm gonna see that there are providers out there that really do care and that really will take your input into consideration when providing care to you.

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So don't lose faith, but also just exercise caution as well.

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Yeah, yeah.

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And it doesn't mean we can't work to make our medical system better.

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I think it just becomes down to this aspect of you can't make something better just by throwing away the whole system.

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And I think in some cases, that's what's sort of happened with this shift towards wellness.

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And I think the thing is we want people to be well, right?

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It's health care, but it should be care for your health.

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And so I think we all want people to be.

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I think the current system that we have with the pressures it places on patients and providers is certainly not ideal.

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But it is also something that, and it can feel especially hard to navigate, right?

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And you don't want to have to go find someone else because this person might not be meeting your needs in a way.

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But I would say there's in a way, it might not be exactly what you need, but you do know that it is regulated to the point where it's meant to only benefit you and really minimize the harm.

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And that is not necessarily the case with wellness.

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Yeah, I 100% agree.

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And spending off of what you just said right now, going back to the social media trends and the parasite cleanses and quick fixes, I was looking into some of the more popular parasite cleanses that are on the market right now and that are available without prescription and without medical guidance or anything like that.

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And some of the ingredients in there are actually kind of scary when you look into them.

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So, one that I found that's in a bunch of the parasite cleanses is black walnut.

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The apparently anti-helmetic property chemical in black walnut is a chemical called juglone.

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However, there's not enough human trials to show that it actually has an effect on parasites and actually has a cleansing effect.

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I also actually can I add to that?

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So I know you can use black walnut holes to make ink, but you're not supposed to get it on your skin because it can cause irritation and blistering.

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To me, I'm I'm a fountain pen girly, so like I love all kinds of ink.

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But if you're thinking about using something as ink and you're not you're supposed to wear gloves if you're making it, that's not something you want to be ingesting for sure.

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Exactly.

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And I was just about to say, but some of the most concerning side effects of using black walnut are the skin and the respiratory irritation that it causes to a lot of people and patients.

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And so it's going back to that whole thing, there's not really good regulation on these products, and they actually can contain chemicals that are really harmful to patients when it comes down to it.

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Another substance that's found in these things is wormwood or thhujone.

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And Camille, I think you have some interesting information about thhujone.

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Yeah, yeah.

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I thought that was so interesting when you put it on the downline we had for this episode.

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Because for those who don't know, uh a fun fact here this is historically present in Absinthe, which is a green liquor.

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It used to be really popular in Europe among like artists and stuff.

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It was thought to have hallucinogenic properties and psychedelic properties.

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It likely does not, for anyone wondering.

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Um, but throughjone is so neurotoxic that the FDA demands that U.S.

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absinthe be thsujone-free.

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And they actually do laboratory testing to determine that it's less than 10 parts per million to ensure that people aren't consuming too much of it.

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In other places in the world, it's regulated differently, but I appreciate the work the FDA does because it means that if it has that stamp of approval, then it's been tested and they've done their best and they've done the legwork to determine it's safe.

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And I'm personally really grateful for that.

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So I think if you ever have an institution like the FDA saying that absence should be thudone-free, my recommendation on that would be you certainly don't want to be taking doujone as a supplement or something like that.

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Yeah, and some side effects of Dujone that were pretty prevalent in populations, including nausea, vomiting, dizziness, seizures.

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And it's actually strongly contraindicated for use in certain populations, including pregnant populations, lactating women, children, people with kidney disease, people with epilepsy, etc.

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Just another example of how important it is to have a lot of information on the things that you're taking and you're putting into your body.

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And like you said, these regulating bodies like the FDA really do the brunt work of that for us and let us know, hey, these things are safe for us versus these things really can do a lot more harm than good.

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Yeah.

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And if I can can I interject here, I just want to throw something out that I would not say that I have a strong stance against people using something like traditional medicine.

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A lot of times that's really based on care and having someone there and present for you, and that does make a difference in your health.

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And there's certainly good examples of elements that we've taken out of nature, like I think of willow bark, right?

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Celic acid.

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And now we have that as an easily available painkiller.

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But I think something to keep in mind with this is you are getting a compound that you know what's in it when you're getting something that's FD approved, and it also removes things that could potentially be toxic or carcinogenic or something that you don't want to be exposed to.

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And so it's not that I think we need to toss all traditional knowledge and things like that.

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I just think we have to find a way of doing things mindfully and safely, and also just with the benefit of the person in mind, right?

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Not just as a money-making thing of someone claiming they can make a cure or something like that.

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I think the information that we've passed down in many ways has been disrupted, but also it's not that it shouldn't be valued.

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I think it should just also be taken in the context of a lot of the really wonderful things we have now that we have because we've done so much testing and things like that.

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So to me, there's always that kind of balance.

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Anyways, go on.

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And like you said, there are so many natural elements that play a role in overall healing and overall health of a patient.

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And there are things that we as medical practitioners and future medical practitioners are taught to emphasize to patients that are really important and really beneficial things that they can do for themselves that don't have anything to do with medications or anything.

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Like eat healthy, eat fruits and vegetables, drink tons of water, drink teas.

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Teas are great.

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Honey is great for your throat when you have sore throat.

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You will always hear doctors saying this.

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We are also going to caution you against using things that are harmful to you because, in the end, we all take an oath, and that oath is to do no harm.

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I want patients and I want people to understand that we're never meaning to do any harm to patients.

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And yeah, just talking about this is I feel important because I see these becoming really popular, and to me, it worries me because I just don't want people to end up hurting themselves.

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And going back to these supplements and things like that, go ahead and take a look at several of the home pages for these supplements.

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It was really interesting to me, and this is just a side note, but I was reading the reviews because I genuinely wanted to hear like how do these things make people feel?

00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:14.160
Is it really something that seems to help people?

00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:29.359
Because when it comes down to it, science, like you've said in the past, Camille, so many things that we use now in medicine actually do come from nature, but a lot of things that we've also tested have been proven to be dangerous to the human population, so that's why we don't use them in medicine.

00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:35.359
But whatever is helpful to human health, we've adopted them into our medical practice.

00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:49.680
And so some of these substances and these things to me, I was looking into them, I was thinking, okay, what if XYZ component of these supplements are actually helpful and patients really do feel like they're helping them?

00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:58.640
But when I went to the reviews, it was so many AI generated images, and I thought that was so interesting.

00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:00.000
I do think that's a good idea.

00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:01.920
I don't know if it's a marketing thing.

00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:03.519
What age group?

00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:07.359
I don't know if that data exists, but what age group is more likely to respond to things.

00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:21.839
And when you think about that's really a population that has, for the most part, a stable income.

00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:23.920
They've got a lot of buying power.

00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:27.440
I wonder if that's done with intention to target an audience.

00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:28.799
That was interesting to me.

00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:29.920
I didn't even think about that.

00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:32.799
I I have found, Christina, you and I are pretty close in age.

00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:37.680
I can listen to something and tell if it's life-wise a lot of times.

00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:49.519
And they don't see it as not being something created by a person.

00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:51.759
And I think it's a little harder with writing, right?

00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:53.119
We've definitely seen that.

00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:59.519
But I do think maybe there is this aspect of people not even necessarily realizing that's an AI review.

00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.200
Like you or I might look at that and be like, that is clearly AI generated.

00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:05.680
But for some generations, that does not register.

00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:14.960
I can remember the other day, my dad was watching like a YouTube video, and I was like, why are you watching something that is like narrated by an AI voice?

00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:16.319
Don't you find that annoying?

00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:17.759
And he's like, What are you talking about?

00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:19.119
An AI voice.

00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:20.720
Interesting.

00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:39.599
But yes, I completely agree with you because the same thing happens with me in my family members, the members that are kind of part of the older generation, when they're faced with some form of social media that's AI generated, they really have a difficult time even noticing that it's AI generated.

00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:41.599
So it's really interesting that you mentioned that.

00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:45.920
I'm so curious if anyone does research on that now, because it's an interesting phenomenon.

00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:48.160
You and I grew up as digital natives, right?

00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:50.160
Like the internet was around our entire lives.

00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:52.160
We didn't live in a pre-internet age.

00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:58.000
And I wonder if we just have more of a familiarization with what it looks like when someone is expressing themselves online.

00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:04.240
Whereas maybe for older generations, it's harder to determine if it's an AI or a computer versus a person.

00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:05.039
So I don't know.

00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:09.279
I can't even put my finger on what the nuance is, but you can a lot of times tell.

00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:13.920
I know in images and stuff, it's like the uncanny valley, but yeah, that's not for another day.

00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:18.160
Anyone out there studying that reach out and let us know because that sounds stupid.

00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:19.599
Let us know, guys.

00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:26.319
But Camille, I know you had some pretty interesting information on actual dangers of parasitic infections and exposures.

00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.880
Did you want to talk about some of the case studies that you wrote about?

00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:29.519
Yeah.

00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:36.160
So there actually wasn't a ton that I was finding, but a lot of times people were coming in because it was really severe.

00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.519
And then the finding was that it was a parasitic infection.

00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:49.599
And so I think that I just want to put that into juxtaposition on kind of what you were saying earlier of people on social media, they were feeling, oh, they had bloating or cramps or like GI upset or whatever.

00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:54.319
And that was what was making them feel that they could self diagnose a parasitic infection.

00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:59.519
Whereas people that, you know, truly have an infection or a lot of parasites, it's far more.

00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.200
And one anecdote that I want to mention here.

00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:07.759
So the PhD program I did was really unique, and that we had to do clinical rotations.

00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:12.480
Of course, I studied infectious diseases, so mine were done in an infectious disease clinic.

00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:15.039
And I remember going in one morning.

00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:20.079
Someone come up and be like, yesterday I saw the wildest thing.

00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:21.920
Do you want to hear about this case?

00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:23.119
And I was like, oh, of course.

00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:24.720
I always want to learn.

00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:27.119
And there's always that kind of curiosity, right?

00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:36.160
And they then proceeded to show this video of parasites being essentially vacuumed from surrounding a brainstem.

00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:36.960
It's gnarly.

00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:38.160
And it was wild.

00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:42.240
It was the it was it's still one of the like wildest things I've ever seen.

00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:47.680
And I don't know if this was in fact at the camera or what, but to me, it looks like the little like parasites were like wiggling.

00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:50.000
And that really gave me kind of alien vibes.

00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:56.079
If someone's familiar with those movies, which are incredibly popular, so I'm sure we have listeners who are.

00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:00.960
But I want to throw that out there because this patient had presented with passing out.

00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:03.920
And every time they turned their head, they passed out.

00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:05.839
People were pretty dismissive of that.

00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:07.680
Oh, that's not real or whatever.

00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:11.119
And it took a while to get diagnosed that until there were scans done.

00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:13.759
So again, technology we're very fortunate to have.

00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:18.799
And on the scan, you could see basically all these little parasites that were around the brain stem.

00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:21.519
And so when the head was turned, it put pressure on the brain stem.

00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:22.640
Oh, it's pressing.

00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:23.839
Yeah.

00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:30.400
And as Christine and I can definitely tell you, the brain stem is incredibly important for all of your living functions.

00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:32.880
Like you need that in order to live.

00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:36.799
Of course, they had to uh emergently remove these, um, right?

00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:41.440
Because you know, pressure on the brainstem is is not going to be viable for life long term.

00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:54.480
And so I just want to also kind of throw out on a different perspective that as I mentioned earlier, most people are never going to be exposed to parasites, particularly if you live in a very wealthy country, if you live or in a city.

00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:56.480
But there are some exceptions to this.

00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:04.240
So where there would be a concern of parasite exposure would be if you drink raw milk, which can expose you to things like toxoplasma.

00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:14.319
Certainly, there are possibilities from eating undercooked meat, particularly, I think, of pork that's been outside before pigs aren't really grass-fed, but they're like this idea that they're ranging.

00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:27.119
To me, if I'm gonna have bacon, I would rather it be from a pig that did not range outside because I would worry about it's not so much that I guess I would worry, but there's the potential for something like trichinosis, which is a worm.

00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:27.279
Yeah.

00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:30.160
And of course, if you cook the meat well enough, you're fine.

00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:36.319
But personally, I would not want to eat meat that had worms in it, even if it had been cooked to a high enough temperature that the worms were dead.

00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:39.440
That would just be a squake.

00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:44.319
Um and then the other way that you could be exposed is drinking unclean water.

00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:48.559
And I don't just say unclean like it's gotta be like a muddy puddle or something.

00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:54.640
Because, like if you're thinking about it, something like a muddy puddle in like an industrial district, it's probably gonna have some contaminants, right?

00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:57.920
But they're more likely to be pollutants than something alive.

00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:11.279
Where I think of like where I grew up in the Adirondack Mountains, in all of the freshwater lakes and streams and creeks and rivers, if you were swimming and you got a bunch of that water into your mouth, you could get something like giardia.

00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:12.079
Yeah, absolutely.

00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:14.640
Or people call it clean-looking streams.

00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:15.599
Yeah, yeah.

00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:17.279
But they're living streams, right?

00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:18.880
And I think that's the point to keep in mind.

00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:26.640
People called it beaver fever because either are animals occupying these streams, and that's why there continues to be a parasite load.

00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:36.160
Really, if you're gonna get parasites, the most likely cause is gonna be like contamination of food or drink or something like that, or from animals in some way or another.

00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:38.079
So I just wanted to throw that out there.

00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:39.839
But again, it's pretty rare.

00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:42.079
Yeah, it's not impossible, obviously.

00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:50.960
So if you're having some of the major side effects that you know have to do with parasitic infections, then please go seek medical care, but it's less likely than you would think.

00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:51.680
Yeah.

00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:57.279
So tell us about how parasites are treated when someone has picked up a parasitic infection.

00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:05.440
Yeah, so thankfully, we do have some pretty powerful medications that work across the board with a lot of the parasites that we see in patients.

00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:12.400
One of the most common medication families that we see used for parasitic infection treatment are the azoles.

00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:21.200
So you think about albendazole or mabendazole, like those medications, and they're used to treat hookworms, round worms, whipworms, tapeworms.

00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:25.440
And what they do is they inhibit the cell membrane formation in these parasites.

00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:32.160
And so that just inevitably leads to parasitic death because they can't really form these membranes that protect their cells.

00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:39.279
Another medication that's pretty commonly used is a medication called prasequanto, and it's used for treatment of tapeworms and some flukes.

00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:44.240
What it does is it triggers this rapid calcium influx into the parasite.

00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:50.400
And calcium, when it enters muscles and enters cells, it leads to contraction of muscle cells.

00:26:50.480 --> 00:27:12.799
And what that does when it's not leaving your cells as it normally should, and it's staying in there, is it causes this contraction paralysis, and as a result of that contraction paralysis, parasites can't adhere to host tissue, and that allows for the expulsion of these parasites in a rather undesirable manner, I'm sure, but nevertheless leads to treatment of the parasitic infection.

00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:20.720
And then I would say another medication that is more commonly used as well is parental chemoae.

00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:23.920
It's not as common as the other two medications, but it's still commonly used.

00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:26.640
It's used to treat pinworms, round worms, and hookworms.

00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:41.839
And what it does, it attaches to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, leading to constant activation of those receptors, and same thing as the quanto causes this contraction paralysis and then allows for the expulsion of these parasites.

00:27:42.079 --> 00:28:01.920
And then I think it's important to also realize, like you said, Camille, that treatment of parasitic infections doesn't just stop at ridding the body of the parasitic infection, it also entails helping the patient with any nutritional deficiencies that they've been experiencing while these parasites are taking from them.

00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:14.160
And that's also why it's so important to seek medical care when you have a parasitic infection or when you think, hey, I might have an actual parasitic infection, is because it's not just taking an herbal supplement or taking a medication.

00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:27.839
We need to make sure that you're actually okay and you're going to be okay moving forward, and that you have the right nutrition that you need in order to make up for any deficits that you lost while you had something that was actively taken from you.

00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:34.880
And one of the most common side effects that we see with chronic parasitic infections is iron deficiency, like you mentioned, Camille.

00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:38.799
And some people have infections so severe that they require blood transfusions.

00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:39.200
Yeah.

00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:46.240
So that's just something that's scary, but it's also a really important aspect of treating a patient with parasitic infections.

00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:47.359
Yeah, yeah.

00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:48.960
I think that's all really good points.

00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:53.519
And these are also not medications you want to take if you don't have parasites, right?

00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:54.079
Hopefully.

00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:58.720
A really good example of this that I could think of off the top of my head is ivermectin.

00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:01.599
This is often talked about in the veterin context.

00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:06.799
We used to use this on cows, and it can be prescribed to people, it sometimes is, but it's only for parasitic infections.

00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:12.160
There was a lot of rumors going around about using it for things like COVID, not something that should be done.

00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:16.640
But it is used in this instant to treat parasitic worms.

00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:20.799
It can also be used topically for like head lice and sometimes for things like rosacea.

00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:24.799
But I just want to throw out there that people think one medication is the same as the other.

00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:30.559
The veterinary formulations are really concentrated for large animals and are pretty toxic to humans.

00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:38.240
I can remember when I was a kid, you basically spray it on the back of cows and stuff like that to use this like an antiparasitic.

00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:41.599
And you always wanted to be really careful not to get it on your hands.

00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:43.039
Oh no.

00:29:43.359 --> 00:29:44.240
Just something to throw out.

00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:49.359
I'm sure it's a young farm kid, your hands will go really dark purple because it's got to die in it.

00:29:49.519 --> 00:29:51.200
But you never want it on your hands, right?

00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:52.640
If that ever happened, it was an accident.

00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:54.160
You were trying to get it off.

00:29:54.960 --> 00:30:09.680
So it's one of those things that you know, just because something is approved for use doesn't mean it's necessarily always safe for humans in the dosage that it's in, or even that it is effective at all at something beyond what it's intended to treat, right?

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:12.240
Ivermectin's a great antiparasitic.

00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:14.319
It shouldn't be used for other things.

00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:15.200
Oh, absolutely.

00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:18.720
Yeah, I just wanted to throw that out there.

00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:19.279
Yeah.

00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:25.839
I know that earlier in the podcast you had said that there were some parasites that grew to approximately like 30 feet long.

00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:26.559
Is that correct?

00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:27.119
Yes.

00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:32.160
And so those, I'm thinking of one specifically that we're talking, grow really long.

00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:42.880
But some of those parasitic infections, those parasites actually grow within the intestine, and they grow so long that they can't really be treated with medications at some point.

00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:51.599
And so those infections are so severe that the patient will sometimes have to undergo surgery in order to receive appropriate treatment and removal of the parasite.

00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:57.440
So just pointing out that's basically big enough to cause severe obstruction, right?

00:30:57.519 --> 00:30:58.319
Like an impaction.

00:30:58.640 --> 00:30:59.279
Absolutely.

00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:01.839
Yes, yeah, they're causing an obstruction.

00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:15.599
And so when someone's infected with parasites, yeah, you can have a minor infection that just leads to some pretty nasty diarrhea, but you can also have a pretty severe infection that requires emergency surgery.

00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:20.960
And that's a pretty interesting range of treatment that you need to consider.

00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:23.039
Yeah, no, absolutely.

00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:31.920
And it's often, even in the veterinary world, sometimes if the stray animal comes in with a particular heavy parasite load, the goal is to treat that infection gradually, right?

00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:46.960
Yeah, and you do tend to see, and from what I was taught at least, I haven't had a patient or seen a patient with an infection like this, but you do tend to see some blood in the stool and everything that that while you are passing with these parasites because they were clinging onto the tissue and now they're not.

00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:49.839
So a solid cover of parasites.

00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:50.400
Yeah.

00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:51.599
What do you think, Camille?

00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:55.519
Yeah, I think it's a good cover of parasites, I think, in the Western context, right?

00:31:55.759 --> 00:32:06.559
There are definitely still instances where there's places where you are more likely to be exposed to parasites or where treatments vary or just access to clean water or things like that also varies.

00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:29.200
But I think it's just something to keep in mind, particularly, I think, on social media, the sort of trend of self-diagnosis and things like that, is just finding a way to like how do we integrate what people really want to see out of their health care versus what we can truly provide in the system that we have and what can we change about the system that we have so it does work better for people.

00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:46.000
So that way when you have cases of something like a parasitic infection, not only is it caught without a patient having to wonder or to speculate, but it's treated in a way that is appropriate, and we're really fortunate to have appropriate ways of treating it now, like our ancestors definitely did it now.

00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:48.400
Yeah, I completely agree.

00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:51.519
And I think that this was a really enlightening podcast episode.

00:32:51.599 --> 00:32:54.559
And of course, always love chatting with you, Camille.

00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:56.160
Yeah, yeah, same girl.

00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:57.039
It's always good to chat.

00:32:57.200 --> 00:32:58.400
Thanks for listening, everybody.

00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:03.759
If you ever have a topic, you're always welcome to reach out and let us know what you'd like to hear on infectious science.

00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:07.680
Thanks for joining us for this episode, and we'll catch you on the next one.

00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:09.359
See you then, guys.

00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:12.480
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00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:20.640
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