Blog 1

My name is John and I’m a senior studying biomedical engineering at Saint Louis University.  I am also a pre-med student, so I want to make this blog about my interests in the medical field.  While browsing through articles, I stumbled across a story of a man that had a six-foot-long tape worm pulled out through his mouth.  This gave me the idea to write about interesting medical stories.  I’ve always enjoyed TV shows like Untold Stories of the ER so I thought this would be a good opportunity to explore more medical cases like those presented in that show.

Now, back to the six-foot tapeworm.  After experiencing abdominal pain for two months, the patient went to the doctor to see what the issue was.  After finding low levels of hemoglobin in his blood, a colonoscopy was ordered.  During the procedure, the doctors found a tapeworm in the man’s intestines.  After discovering the worm, doctors performed an endoscopy, a procedure where a camera is inserted through the mouth and down the esophagus to view the stomach and intestines.  The worm was then pulled out through the patient’s mouth with a pair of forceps.  The worm measured 6.1 feet, but worms of this type can routinely grow to up to 7 meters in length.

This type of tapeworm infection was likely caused by contaminated pork.  This case should serve as a reminder to always cook meats thoroughly in order to avoid food-borne illnesses like this one.

Source:

Jimson, R. (January 27, 2017).  Doctors remove 6-foot tapeworm though man’s mouth.  Retrieved from: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/27/health/6-foot-tapeworm-india-study/index.html