How It Works - UK (2020-02)

HEALTH

Hot-pot meat leaves man

with brain parasite

WordsbyRachaelRettner

A

maninChinaendedupwith

tapewormlarvaeinhisbrain

aftereatinga hot-potmealthat

waslikelyundercooked,accordingto

newsreports.

The46-year-oldman,wholivesin

theeasternprovinceofZhejiang,went

tothehospitalafterdeveloping

neurologicalsymptomsincluding

headaches,dizzinessandepilepsy-like

episodesoflimbtwitchingand

foamingatthemouth.

DoctorsattheFirstAffiliated

HospitalofZhejiangUniversitySchool

ofMedicineperformedanMRI,which

showedhehadmultiplelesionsin

hisbrain.Hewasdiagnosedwith

neurocysticercosis,a parasiticdisease

ofthecentralnervoussystemthat

occurswhena personingests

microscopiceggsfroma porktapeworm

(Taeniasolium).Whentheeggshatch,

thelarvaecantravelthroughoutthe

body,includingtothebrain,muscles,

skinandeyes,wheretheyformcysts,

accordingtotheWorldHealth

Organization(WHO).

Doctorssuspectthatthemanhad

purchasedmeatcontaminatedwith

tapewormlarvae,andthathedidn’t

cookitwellenoughtokillthoselarvae,

thePostreported.

Themanreceivedtreatmentto

eliminatethetapewormsandreduce

pressureinhisbrain,thePost

reported,andhemadea fullrecovery.

http://www.howitworksdaily.com HowIt Works 015

HISTORY

Viking

bodies

found buried

between

boats

WordsbyNicolettaLanese

W

henarchaeologistsexcavatedan

unusualVikinggravesiteinNor way,

theydugupt wobodies...alongw ith

theremnantsoft womassiveboats.A fter

hundredsofyearsunderground,onlyremnants

ofthewoodenvesselsremained,butthe

excavationteamcouldtellthet wohadbeen

stackedatopeachother.Vikingburialsitesoften

featureboats,butboatsburiedinsideeachother

are“essentiallyanunknow nphenomenon,”

Ray mondSauvage,anarchaeologistatthe

Nor wegianUniversit yofScienceandTechnolog y

(NTNU)Universit yMuseum,saidina statement.

Theboats’occupantsonlyaddedtothemyster y

oftheburialsite.

Thetopboat,aboutseventoeightmetreslong,

containedtheremainsofa womansurrounded

bya collectionofornaments,includinga pearl

necklace,t wopairsofscissors,partofa spindle

andanentirecowhead.Thewoman’sremains

wereadornedw itht woshiningbrooches,one

shell-shapedandoneintheshapeofa crucifix.

Thecrucifix“decorationandthedesignitself

tellusthatit camefromIreland,andthatit was

oncepartofa harnessfitting,”A inaHeen

Pettersen,a researcherintheNTNUdepartment

ofhistoricalstudies,saidinthestatement.

Vikingswhotookpartinvoyagesandraids

oftencollectedharnessfittingsasjeweller y,

Pettersenadded.Basedonthegoodsrecovered

fromthewoman’sgrave,thearchaeologists

determinedthatshehaddiedduringthesecond

halfofthe9thcentur y.Butremarkably,theman

whosebodyhadbeenburiedintheboatbelow

diedinthecentur yprior,theydiscovered.The

man’sboatmeasuredaboutninetotenmetres

longandcontaineda shield,a spearanda single-

edgedsword.“Swordst yleschangethroughthe

centuries,whichmeanswecanunambiguously

datethisgravetothe8thcentur y,theperiodthat

isknow nastheMerov ingianerainNorthern

Europe,”Sauvagesaid.

“That’sassumingthatwearenotdealingw ith

a Vikinghipster,”headded.Sauvageandhis

teamconcludedthatuponthewoman’sdeath,

Vikingshadcarefullyexcavatedtheman’sboat,

placedthesmallerboatinside,andreburied

bothvesselstogether.

© Shutterstock

Replicas of two historic Viking

longboats at Lofoten Islands, Norway

The pork tapeworm, Taenia solium, is common in developing nations,

including countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia

© Getty