Mind control parasites (warning: totally gross)

[IsaacC]

A friend shared this with me and I was grossed out for days. So now I wanna share it with you, coz I'm generous like that.

These parasitic worms (called Leucochloridium paradoxum, Wiki it if you like), infect snails. Hundreds of them infect the snail's tentacles (the eye-like things), and make it pulsate a green color. The tentacles effectively look like two yummy catterpillars.

The parasites cause the snails to seek sunlight, which is against their nature. Out in the sun, they can be easily spotted by birds, who will be enticed by the tentacles, which now look like yummy catterpillars. Well, watch the video for the rest:



The snails will eventually grow back their tentacles and the circle of life continues.

Told you it was gross.

[Davee]

Yeah, pretty horrible stuff. Kinda reminds me of the cordyceps fungus that infects a lot of Amazonian insects.


Also, check this one out:

[mohaas05]

Yeah, pretty horrible stuff. Kinda reminds me of the cordyceps fungus that infects a lot of Amazonian insects.


Also, check this one out:

I think I would die if I saw that happen to a grasshopper.

[BlackBurd]

Crazy.

Also look at the end when they show related videos. They showed some coming out of some ones face.

[Auraomega]

Theres a case of the same thing affecting humans, although not quite to the same level. Cats cause the problem, which is lowering humans "fear level" or something like that, so they are not so aware of danger, I believe its caused a few deaths in the past... its not quite "mind control" as much as lowering instinctual levels of awareness I guess.

I'll try and find out the name of whatever it is and report back

-Aura

EDIT:

Not quite what I said they were, but they do affect people, the name is Toxoplasma gondii.

"Research has shown that women who are infected with the parasite tend to be warm, outgoing and attentive to others, while infected men tend to be less intelligent and probably a bit boring. But both men and women who are infected are more prone to feeling guilty and insecure."

[IsaacC]

Theres a case of the same thing affecting humans, although not quite to the same level. Cats cause the problem, which is lowering humans "fear level" or something like that, so they are not so aware of danger, I believe its caused a few deaths in the past... its not quite "mind control" as much as lowering instinctual levels of awareness I guess.

I'll try and find out the name of whatever it is and report back

-Aura

EDIT:

Not quite what I said they were, but they do affect people, the name is Toxoplasma gondii.

"Research has shown that women who are infected with the parasite tend to be warm, outgoing and attentive to others, while infected men tend to be less intelligent and probably a bit boring. But both men and women who are infected are more prone to feeling guilty and insecure."

Ohhh that's sick. Looked it up on Wiki:

"One study suggests that a possible behavior modification is that people not infected with the parasite found women with toxoplasma more attractive than women who don't have toxoplasma. Another study performed in the Czech Republic suggests individuals with latent toxoplasmosis had a 2.65 times higher risk of traffic accidents than noninfected subjects."

Mind control parasites trying to make humans breed and then kills them in traffic accidents lol. Sounds like The Puppet Masters movie.

[Auraomega]

Haha, I was certain I'd heard something about car accidents. First I heard of it was not long after the paper was published on them, there was something on TV which looked mighty interesting, its stuck with me through the years (I must have been about 14-15 when I first heard of it).

Reminds me of the X-Files, the episode Ice with the parasites that infect humans and make them paranoid and violent.

Still, with about 35% of the human population infected by them its a strange thought... hehe, wonder how many of us are infected

-Aura

[NoEffex]

That is really, really, really something I did not need to know. Dammit curiosity.

[Auraomega]

Dammit curiosity.

You sure it was curiosity and not paraistes O.o... you're infected aren't you? Thats it isn't it? *Paranoid*

-Aura

[GinoD]

Sorry. Human-infecting botflies still take the cake for grossest things in nature. Or at least, their incubation process.:Cry:

I won't post a YouTube video of it here for fairly obvious reasons. I'm already at wit's end seeing Isaac and Davee's videos. I don't want to go to YouTube now and search for botflies.

YouTube "botfly" at your own risk.

[mohaas05]

Or you can just look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myiasis

[GinoD]

Or you can just look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myiasis

OK. Now I need a drink.

[Auraomega]

Botflies are nasty buggers. I once saw a woman in hospital because they laid eggs in her head. The larvae were actually wriggling under the skin as they were pulled out - very sickening.

As for the Myiasis, I've heard of it before but never saw any pictures like that or anything, thats gotta rank somewhere near the top of my "wish I hadn't seen" list.

How about tapeworms people? Longest tapeworm removed was 37ft long, thats over 11m, now to make things worse, the usual removal of tapeworm is with a de-worming pill, and then its excreted (take a few news papers with ya)... in this case though it had to be removed through the mouth. And I always thought having a camera was bad...



-Aura

[GinoD]

....now to make things worse, the usual removal of tapeworm is with a de-worming pill, and then its excreted (take a few news papers with ya)... in this case though it had to be removed through the mouth. ...

-Aura

Ah. If we're talking removal of parasites, while tapeworm-extraction-via-mouth definitely scores high in the gross meter... ever heard of the Candiru? That absolutely wins, hands down, on the painful chart.

It's more commonly called the toothpick fish. Or... (at least, according to the show Grey's Anatomy) the penis fish.

And yes, it's classified as a parastic fish. In the wild, (they're fresh water fish in the Amazon) they swim into the gills of other fish and feed on the fish host's blood. HOWEVER. Here's the interesting bit - the part about human parasitism.

There's been reports of toothpick fish swimming up people's penises or vaginas (even up anuses). These fish are very tiny, and to make matters worse, they're transparent, making them virtually impossible to see in the waters.

What they do is, if someone in the water pees, they follow the current of the urine to the source. They sneak into the open orifice and get lodged up in there. To make matters doubly worse, these tiny fish have hooked barbs - backward spikes! - along their gills, so when a needle fish gets lodged somewhere, it won't be able to swim out backwards.

The most effective treatment is only via surgery - meaning, they chop of your penis or totally mangle your vagina. And treatment should be done FAST. A person could die of shock and internal bleeding, i.e. infection, in a matter of hours. There's also a cure of using fluids and herbs to somehow dissolve the fish in the urinary tract, but chances are, by the time the medicine takes effect, it may be too late.

[Auraomega]

I have heard of those things before, I saw a documentery on TV about parasites and that came on... I cringed the whole way through. Some poor guy was doing is buisness in the water, and along swims the fish. It took them ages to work out what it was and even longer to find a way to remove it. My scare-o-meter broke at that point.

Ok, so;

Most painful parasite - Candiru
Most vomit inducing - Tape worm (37ft long variaty)
Most widespread - Toxoplasma Gondii

anything else we need to add to this list?

Oh, theres one in the waters of Africa (I think) and it gets into cuts on the skin. It then settles there and lays more eggs, I believe in some cases amputation is required when the infestation gets too bad. They pass from the host into the water naturally as well to keep the cycle going. I'll try and find the name of those things.

Finally, did you know tapeworm and some other worm parasites are voluntary taken in by both hayfever suffers and other people with allergys. The worm not only feeds off of the food, but also intakes some of whatever causes the allergy, I discovered this when looking for something to relieve my horrendous hayfever... needless to say, after finding out the size those things grow I decided steriods were the better of 2 evils.

-Aura

[GinoD]

I have heard of those things before, I saw a documentery on TV about parasites and that came on... I cringed the whole way through. Some poor guy was doing is buisness in the water, and along swims the fish. It took them ages to work out what it was and even longer to find a way to remove it. My scare-o-meter broke at that point.

Ok, so;

Most painful parasite - Candiru
Most vomit inducing - Tape worm (37ft long variaty)
Most widespread - Toxoplasma Gondii

anything else we need to add to this list?

Oh, theres one in the waters of Africa (I think) and it gets into cuts on the skin. It then settles there and lays more eggs, I believe in some cases amputation is required when the infestation gets too bad. They pass from the host into the water naturally as well to keep the cycle going. I'll try and find the name of those things.

Finally, did you know tapeworm and some other worm parasites are voluntary taken in by both hayfever suffers and other people with allergys. The worm not only feeds off of the food, but also intakes some of whatever causes the allergy, I discovered this when looking for something to relieve my horrendous hayfever... needless to say, after finding out the size those things grow I decided steriods were the better of 2 evils.

-Aura

Hehehe. I dunno, but for me, botflies still win the "most vomit-inducing" award. Most freaky goes to the vid that Davee posted. Most painful, still won by the toothpick fish. I'd put the tapeworms on my shiver-inducing list. But pretty much every parasite out there is shiver-inducing.

Oh. And on a geeky note. I firmly believe in the whole "Mitochondria are parasites" theory, as expounded on in Parasite Eve.

[Auraomega]

The thought of a botfly does turn my stomach, but the gagging you'd do as 37 feet of worm was being pulled from your mouth makes me heave... (imagine the tension on it, worms aren't solid so they'd have an almost string effect in your throat, not to mention the fact of the texture passing up your oesophagus), "open wide"

Sometimes I wish I didn't have such a graphic imagination lol...

I've never heard of Mitochondria before, but you've sparked my interest now, I'll have a read on them, a quick scan of wikipedia threw up what could be some interesting reading.

-Aura

Edit:
Gah I have a spot on my neck and its itchy as hell, I'm sure its 90% to do with this thread and botflies!

[mohaas05]

I don't get the Mitochondria-parasite relationship at all

[GinoD]

I don't get the Mitochondria-parasite relationship at all

Hmm? Which part of it?

Basically, the story in Parasite Eve is that the mitochondria in our cells have been lying incognito. And they've just been waiting for centuries until the resurrection of Eve, who will lead them (the mitochondria) as the superior race.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasite_Eve

[IsaacC]

well, i go away for the weekend and i miss all the fun. mohaas' wiki page gets my vote. blargh.

[mohaas05]

Hmm? Which part of it?

Basically, the story in Parasite Eve is that the mitochondria in our cells have been lying incognito. And they've just been waiting for centuries until the resurrection of Eve, who will lead them (the mitochondria) as the superior race.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasite_Eve

Ah ok I didn't see the wiki, just the synopsis posted earlier.

[Mabie]

cracked actually did a really cool (and equally horrifying) article on 5 scientific reasons a zombie apocalypse could actually happen. brain parasites made it to number 5, while neurotoxins and the real rage virus followed higher in the list.

it's actually very interesting, although i'd have to admit. when i read about the toxoplasma gondii, i never looked at my sister's persian cat the same way again.

http://www.cracked.com/article_15643...ly-happen.html
-=Double Post Merge =-

"Research has shown that women who are infected with the parasite tend to be warm, outgoing and attentive to others, while infected men tend to be less intelligent and probably a bit boring. But both men and women who are infected are more prone to feeling guilty and insecure."

okay, then. i'll be more understanding towards guys who are a dumber than usual, and boring. also, i'll be more patient with those who beat themselves up over the littlest of things, and those who need constant pats on their backs.

when i do come across someone like that, i'll just think, "awww... you must have toxoplasma gandii... "

[Zx30]

Nice article Mabie. Very interesting

[Auraomega]

So, imagine if half the world suddenly had no instinct for self-preservation or rational thought. Even less than they do now, we mean.

That whole post made me laugh, pretty funny read. The only 2 that seem logically possible to me are the real rage virus, basicly screwing with serotonin levels in the brain. The second one that seemed possible is the cortex removal,

That just leaves the part that controls basic motor function and primitive instincts behind.

...humans have killed each other since the dawn of man, the only change is we've found bigger and better ways of killing people... I'd say violence is pretty much an instinct in humans.

And so the post evolves again

-Aura

[Mabie]

...humans have killed each other since the dawn of man, the only change is we've found bigger and better ways of killing people... I'd say violence is pretty much an instinct in humans.

-Aura

i agree. although i don't think it's necessarily because we intrinsically love gore and whatnot. i think violence is a highly, highly extreme manifestation of one's need to feel secure with his own person. and no, i don't mean in the emo secure kind of way.

i mean as in self-defense. come to think of it, the "self-defense" takes on a whole new meaning in the context of violence. some guy killed another cos his territorial bubble was burst, cos he was pushed to the wall and he snapped back, cos he wanted to be preemptive...

then again, given this, i think it would be more proper to tag this as selfishness. i'd say man is pretty selfish by nature. although as ayn rand said, there is virtue in selfishness, too. :)

[Auraomega]

I agree on some aspects of what you said also, but I don't believe its just to feel secure. If that was the case we would have so many wars being made across the world.

I don't think we like or enjoy gore, but I think its a hardwired thing on humans to kill, maybe its an instinct we've generated over the many years we've been on this rock, but its still there. How many other creatures kill for fun?

"We're not gonna make it, are we? People, I mean."
"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves."

-Aura

[Darkfairy]

That is so gross but cool to watch lol. I really like to learn a lot about insects and all.

[Davidd]

Thats horrible stuff