But hold the phone—imagine the shock of finding out that one unfortunate soul down in Florida wound up with a tapeworm wriggling around in their brain, all thanks to a lifelong habit of chowing down on undercooked bacon. This grim revelation came to light when a 52-year-old man sought relief for his chronic migraines, only for doctors to uncover the presence of tapeworm larvae taking up residence in his noggin.
Consider this a wake-up call, folks. When it comes to cooking bacon, it's better to err on the side of caution and let it sizzle until it's nice and crisp. Trust me, your brain will thank you for it.
From Knewz:
When he sought treatment, doctors asked an array of questions about his travel and any lifestyle changes, and found nothing significant, except for the fact that the patient said he had "a habit of eating lightly cooked, non-crispy bacon for most of his life."
The medical team suspected he might have a case of neurocysticercosis, an infection that occurs when the larvae of a pork tapeworm become embedded within the nervous system.
A CT scan revealed several cysts in the patient's brain, and he was rushed to urgent care where he could be examined more closely.
Through continued tests, doctors confirmed he had, indeed, contracted neurocysticercosis, and that the cysts in his brain were actually parasitic tapeworm larvae.
However, the patient didn't develop the infection from simply ingesting the undercooked bacon; The condition occurs when the eggs from an intestinal pork tapeworm — in a condition called taeniasis — within one human's feces are ingested by another human.
The medical team ultimately concluded the man likely infected himself in this manner.
"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," the case report said.
