[HN Gopher] Hookworm gave the South a bad name (2016)
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Hookworm gave the South a bad name (2016)
Author : thunderbong
Score : 57 points
Date : 2023-09-24 12:51 UTC (10 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.pbs.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.pbs.org)
| go_prodev wrote:
| The article paints hookworms as disease causing parasites,
| responsible for the poor health and economic circumstances in the
| South.
|
| But this year hookworms were involved in a clinical trial on type
| 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease with positive results, so
| maybe the south were onto something.
|
| https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/diabetes-study-suc...
| sandworm101 wrote:
| There have been many such studies using hookworms to
| investigate whether aspects of out physiology can benefit from
| parasites, whether our bodies have evolved to expect them to
| the point that living without is unnatural. BUT, my
| understanding is that these studies have always used only male
| or only female worms. The patient is "infected" with a very
| limited number and they will all eventually die. That is very
| different than being infested with a colony's worth of worms.
| And, most importantly, any released eggs will not ever go on to
| infect other people.
|
| These worms are also easily eradicated from the body if needed.
| Ivermectin cannot kill covid, but it murders worms very well.
| AbrahamParangi wrote:
| Aside but my favorite ivermectin study was the meta study
| that found that there was a relationship between whether or
| not ivermectin improved Covid outcomes and the rates of
| endemic parasites that could be treated with ivermectin.
|
| So, people who got the dewormer did better - but only in
| those places where people had a lot of parasitic worms. The
| obvious implication being they did better _because they had a
| parasitic worm infection which was incidentally treated with
| ivermectin_.
| delecti wrote:
| There was also an in vitro study that showed ivermectin
| killed SARS-CoV-2 viral particles. Of course the conspiracy
| theorists left out dose information, which would be so high
| that it would just kill you outright.
|
| So the truth behind the two halves of the ivermectin
| conspiracy were basically: if you have parasites, getting
| rid of them will help your COVID prognosis; and if you
| don't mind being dead first, we can prevent COVID from
| killing you.
| 1udfx9cf8azi0 wrote:
| The study did not show that Ivermectin killed SARS-CoV-2
| viral particles. Prior to the pandemic, Ivermectin was
| known to act as an broad anti-viral. This is due to
| Ivermectin being a protease inhibitor, i.e. it blocks an
| enzyme from acting. It's important to note that this is
| the mechanism through which approved anti-virals for
| SARS-CoV-2, such as Paxlovid, operate.
| autoexec wrote:
| [flagged]
| galangalalgol wrote:
| There are also some studies indicating that it can shrink
| certain tumors. My assumption was that it just stirred up
| the immune system in general, un thevsame way that a flu
| shot can decrease the severity of a cold.
| go_prodev wrote:
| Ah that makes more sense. I recall one of the studies saying
| that the worms couldn't reproduce, whereas the article on HN
| mentions millions of eggs causing an infestation.
| sandworm101 wrote:
| If anyone is interested in controlling parasites by playing
| with their reproduction, consider the "screwworm fence"
| down in Panama. Irradiated male screwworm flies are bred
| and released en masse, to mate with wild females to produce
| nonviable offspring and thereby halt the species spreading
| further north. It works so well that few have heard about
| it.
| [deleted]
| celias wrote:
| Stuff You Should Know did an episode on hookworms
|
| https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-you-should-know-269...
| dmvdoug wrote:
| Yeah, well, it's also excruciatingly hot down here. 98 degrees
| and 100% humidity makes you want to do nothing but sit on your
| ass with a tall glass o' iced tea (that's sweet tea for y'all in
| the north).
| kcplate wrote:
| > that's sweet tea for y'all in the north
|
| Bless their hearts.
| InvaderFizz wrote:
| After the elimination of hookworms, air conditioning is what
| really made the difference in the south when it comes to
| economic development. Those summers are oppressive.
|
| Anyone who grew up in rural areas of the south is generally on
| the lookout for chiggers, ringworms, ticks, hookworms, and
| pinworms.
| kstrauser wrote:
| I've never been so miserable as when I got covered in
| chiggers. Poison ivy was less maddening.
| xeromal wrote:
| I grew up in N. GA and I vividly remember shtting out worms
| in about '98 and running to tell my dad. He called me wormy
| and that was the end of it. lol
|
| No idea what I had, but we did run around barefoot outside
| and I did until I was around 12-13 when I stepped on a rusty
| can and damn near cut my pinkie toe off.
| sarchertech wrote:
| You probably had pinworms, which are much more common. 20%
| of kids in the US get pinworms at some point.
| nerdponx wrote:
| Apparently some worm larvae are small enough that they can
| get in through the pores in your feet. I remember reading
| that a big part of the parasite elimination campaigns in
| the south involved convincing people to wear shoes outside
| more often.
|
| That or there were eggs on some food you ate.
| xeromal wrote:
| Yeah, we still had some older folk that used outhouses so
| I wonder if it was through that. I've also considered
| dogs because we had so many that roamed free. We did grow
| our food from time to time.
| sandworm101 wrote:
| Breaking the reproduction/re-infection cycle was key.
| Pickup up dog turds did make a difference, so too the
| widespread use of preventative drugs in pets. Not
| spitting in the street. Wearing shoes. Bathing in
| clean/chlorinated water, drinking clean water, proper
| sewage, and tacking any local infections with serious
| drugs ... all these things add up to cut the reinfection
| rate to the point that the parasites stopped spreading.
| PopAlongKid wrote:
| >ringworms
|
| Which for those who may not know is a fungus, not an actual
| worm
| User23 wrote:
| Where are you that has wet bulb temperatures of 98? That's near
| or past the point where lethal hyperthermia sets in for
| otherwise healthy persons.
| mrob wrote:
| >98 degrees and 100% humidity
|
| 98 degF wet-bulb temperature (which is equal to the air
| temperature at 100% relative humidity) will literally kill you.
| That's higher than anything listed on Wikipedia:
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature#Highest_r...
| Loughla wrote:
| I'm not trying to be a Dick, but it's called hyperbole. Not
| everything is meant to be exactly literal. Based on the tone
| of the original post, I think they are being a little silly.
| kcplate wrote:
| I am glad that someone else on here recognizes this.
| CapitalistCartr wrote:
| I had to stop drinking sweet tea this year. It's been a tough
| transition.
|
| We have a saying here, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity",
| but if you're from a place where 85 is hot, you won't agree.
| When it's still over 80 at 11 o'clock at night, it takes some
| adjusting.
| oooyay wrote:
| I grew up in Texas and now live in Oregon where we get
| something like two weeks of nights where it's 80+ out late at
| night. I agree with you; the humidity makes things gross but
| what makes them unbearable is the duration of the heat.
| Zach_the_Lizard wrote:
| Here in Texas, it's been 80 degrees by about 8 or 9am for
| most of the summer. Sometimes earlier or for days. Apparently
| it currently feels like 110 degrees (air temperature is 101).
| selimthegrim wrote:
| Luzianne half caff and stevia are your friends.
| selimthegrim wrote:
| Where is the sweet tea McDonald's dividing line these Days?
| Northern VA? Maybe it's moving as fast as the saltwater
| intrusion towards New Orleans lately.
| dmvdoug wrote:
| I don't know but it's one of my favorite rituals, when
| northerners come down here and innocently order tea and then
| gag at first sip.
| dmckeon wrote:
| There is some unpalatable concoction served as "sweet tea"
| in various chain sit-down restaurants in the greater deep
| south area that I assume either uses some non-sugar
| sweetener or some instant tea mix. I now order unsweetened
| iced tea, and add sugar to taste. see also: "If this is tea
| bring me coffee, and if it is coffee bring me tea."
| https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/11/11/coffee-tea/
| Loughla wrote:
| It's not sweet tea if you put sugar in cold tea. It's tea
| with sugar.
|
| Or so I've been told by my southern relatives. I can't
| really taste a difference.
| mter wrote:
| You put the sugar in when the tea is hot because it
| allows you to super saturate the room temperature/cold
| tea with sugar and the tea is more like a syrup. If you
| just stir in sugar, you can't get the same amount,
| especially if they bring you chilled tea.
|
| You can practically feel the diabetes when you drink
| sweet tea in the south.
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(page generated 2023-09-24 23:01 UTC)