NYP – Dr. Bernard Hsu, a US-based oncologist and host of Chubbyemu, a YouTube channel dedicated to sharing tales of medical oddities, reported on a case study of a woman who bought capsules filled with tapeworm eggs using cryptocurrency.
Doctors on YouTube have warned viewers that tapeworm egg pills are being sold on the dark web as a quick-fix weight loss solution — putting consumers at risk of serious illness and potentially death.
The bizarre practice of ingesting tapeworm eggs for weight loss goes back to at least the Victorian era, though it’s unclear how commonly the method was used.
The parasites are known to make a home in the human gut after their eggs are unwittingly consumed via undercooked meat products, with some that can grow up to 30 feet long while munching on their host’s post-chewed meals, thus triggering weight loss
The 21-year-old patient, referred to only as “TE,” had been struggling to lose weight conventionally through diet and exercise when she scrolled across an ad on social media for a “controversial” weight loss cure with convincing before-and-after photos
“TE was intrigued. A ‘forbidden’ method is one that must be so good, and so powerful, that it’s the one true secret that she needs to know,” Hsu began.
TE wasted no time downing two of the tapeworm tablets and soon saw the results she’d hoped for — though it came at the uncomfortable cost of regular stomach cramps and bloating. Still happy with her weight loss, she dismissed the symptoms.
However, her worry grew after a shocking bathroom incident, as graphically recalled by Hsu. ‘She thought she could feel something flapping and slapping around her cheeks while she was sitting down,” he said.
“When she was about to flush, she looked back and saw some tan, rectangular pieces floating around in the bowl creeping out of the bulk mass.”
Again, TE chalked up her strange bowel movement as all part of the process — fat leaving her body.
But her symptoms grew more strange: a few weeks later, she noticed an unusual lump under her chin. She reportedly then pressed on the mound and then awoke face down on the floor after having apparently passed out, unsure how long she’d been unconscious.
Days of intense headaches and cranial pressure followed the episode.
