Weird News - Things that make you go 'hmmm'

unidentified 52-year-old American man

experiencing weekly migraines…unresponsive to medication.

denied traveling to “high-risk areas…lived at home with his wife and cat in a modern home”

the man revealed that he did have a preference for “lightly cooked, non-crispy bacon” which he ate for most of his life.

diagnosed with neurocysticercosis, a preventable parasitic infection caused by larval systems from the pork tapeworm Taenia solium.

“…cysticercosis was transmitted via autoinfection after improper handwashing after he had contracted taeniasis himself from his eating habits,” researchers said.

prescribed

drugs, but

“The treatment of neurocysticercosis is controversial. … there is concern that most of the inflammation occurs when the cysts are killed, giving some clinicians pause when considering treatment. …”

Patient went for it anyway and treatment was successful!

Infected pork -> cold fry pan -> mouth -> toilet -> no hand wash -> eggs back to mouth -> larvae in brain

Oof!

How does one eat undercooked bacon? Like do you not get it crispy at all, or what?

Well that thumbnail is going to give me nightmares

The real question everyone is not talking about is the overall safety of pork products in the USA as tapeworm infections in pork meat should be detected and the meat discarded at the processing plants

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Parasitic tapeworm larvae have been found in a man’s brain following weeks of worsening migraines, which researchers believe were caused by his consumption of undercooked bacon.

Following a CT scan on the man, Florida researchers found numerous fluid-filled sacs, or cystic foci, in his brain.

“It can only be speculated, but given our patient’s predilection for undercooked pork and benign exposure history, we favor that his cysticercosis was transmitted via autoinfection after improper handwashing after he had contracted taeniasis himself from his eating habits,” researchers said.

Antiparasitic drugs such as praziquantel or albendazole have sufficient activity against Taenia solium, but there is concern that most of the inflammation occurs when the cysts are killed, giving some clinicians pause when considering treatment.

Although the disease occurs globally, its highest rates of infection are found in areas of Latin America, Asia and Africa that have poor sanitation and free-ranging pigs with access to human feces, the CDC reports.

It adds that there are an estimated 1,000 new hospitalizations for neurocysticercosis in the US each year, with cases more frequently reported in New York, California, Texas, Oregon and Illinois.

The original article contains 545 words, the summary contains 186 words. Saved 66%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

This article is very fitting for this sub. Also, that thumbnail...

Raw bacon (however smoked and cured) is quite common here. Makes me wonder...

Should bacon be safe for consumption as-is because it’s smoked?

researchers believe were caused by his consumption of undercooked bacon

well technically they weren’t wrong