You may want to revisit your tendency of not washing your hands enough, or eating pork, after seeing this bizarre medical phenomenon.
A U.S. doctor shared an x-ray of a patient's pelvic area revealing their body was infested with hundreds of tapeworm eggs due to a major culinary fail.
ER doctor Sam Ghali M.D. shared his findings on X (formerly Twitter) as a cautionary tale to warn others of a possible outcome of eating raw or undercooked pork.
"Here's a video I made breaking down one of the most insane X-Rays I've ever seen," he wrote in the caption.
The accompanying clip showed the patient's x-ray of their pelvis, including the femurs shown bilaterally.
Ghali explained what the hundreds of peculiar white specs strewn about in the image were.
"Now what is jumping right out off the screen at us here isâthis film is riddled with linear densities, and they're everywhere."
What ever could it be?
Our worst nightmare, that's what.
Ghali said the "innumerable" amount of the visible floating particles was a condition known as "cysticercosis."
He continued:
"Essentially these are larval cysts of taenia soliumâalso known as the pork tapeworm."
While the lifecycle of the taenia solium was "complex" to breakdown, he did say that their lifecycle begins with a person consuming raw or uncooked pork.
This leads to infection with the parasitic worms in the gastrointestinal tract, and their lifecycle continues with the infected individual passing the eggs along to another person who then consumes them.
"This cysts can travel anywhere throughout the body," he said, adding:
"In this patient, theyâve traveled heavily to the muscular and the soft tissues of the hips and legs."
He clarified that in this situation, the condition did not pose a life-threatening problem to its host.
Ghali also mentioned the discovery of the cysticercosis was made when the x-ray was taken after the patient fell and experienced hip pain as a result.
"These were all incidental findings," he said of the larval cysts.
Ghali explained that the tapeworms lodge and calcify over time, giving their appearance known as "rice grain calcification."
"The problem is, when these travel to the brain and lodge there, that can cause very serious issues," Ghali said, and listed symptoms such as headaches, confusion, seizures and "even death," as a result.
This gave the internet the heebie-jeebies.
Ghali said the moral of the story is a reminder for us to always wash our hands and "never, ever, under any circumstances, eat raw or undercooked pork."
Duly noted.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, cysticercosis is not that common in North America, however, "about 2% of emergency room visits for seizures in the U.S. are from cysticercosis."
One of the main preventions is to "wash your hands with soap and water frequently, especially after using the bathroom, after changing diapers, before eating and before preparing food."
They also strongly advise people to "wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly or peel before eating" and to avoid drinking untreated water.
