What not to eat?

[Guest shiloh357]

BWM what do you think the eternal fate of Christians who eat pork and the unclean animals of Lev.11, will be?

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Shilo the way you eat has nothing to do with your salvation just your health.

Another article:

Source: http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/printSN/54959.php

Worm in brain a rare and horrifying affliction

Unlucky few get condition during visits to Mexico

By Carla McClain

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

How it happens

● Humans become infected in two ways: by eating undercooked pork infested with the tapeworm larvae; or by ingesting the eggs of the tapeworm, by accidentally eating traces of contaminated human feces, found on food, in water, or on external surfaces. Disease - cysticercosis - occurs only if the eggs are ingested. Once inside the stomach, they hatch, penetrate the intestine, enter the bloodstream and travel to the muscles, eyes or brain.

Staying safe

● To prevent disease from the pork tapeworm and other parasites:

● Do not eat raw or undercooked pork or other meats.

● Wash hands with soap and water after using the toilet and before handling food, especially when traveling in developing countries.

● Wash and peel all raw vegetables and fruits before eating.

● Avoid food that may be contaminated with feces.

● Drink only bottled or boiled (one minute) water or carbonated drinks in cans or bottles.

● In developing countries, go to restaurants known to be frequented by Americans.

SOURCE: Arizona Department of Health Services and MedicineNet.com.

Although experts insist it is extremely rare, it appears at least one person from this area travels to Mexico and comes back with a worm in the brain every year.

That bizarre and frightening form of parasitic infection may have played a role in the strange suicide of a prominent Phoenix official earlier this month, when City Finance Manager Kevin Keogh put his Mercedes in cruise control at about 50 mph, climbed out the window and onto the roof, stretched his arms outward, then fell onto the pavement to his death.

Although the family has not provided details, Keogh's wife has told authorities that her 55-year-old husband contracted a parasite that affected his brain while in Mexico two years ago, according to reports.

Physicians who specialize in exotic infectious diseases have suggested that one parasite common in Mexico - a pork tapeworm - is the most likely culprit, because its larval form can cause brain damage resulting in seizures, severe headaches, paralysis and, in some cases, aberrant behavior.

Humans get the worm by eating infested, undercooked pork or any food contaminated by infected human feces.

Found all over the world - especially in rural parts of developing countries such as Mexico - the pork tapeworm is blamed for high rates of epilepsy in that country, but it only rarely affects tourists who travel there, health officials say.

"There are remarkably few Arizona cases of this on the books, considering we are on the Mexico border. It's fairly common there and throughout Latin America," said David Engelthaler, acting state epidemiologist. Up to 3 percent of autopsies in Mexico City find tapeworm brain lesions, he said.

Only three cases of pork tapeworm infection have been confirmed in Arizona in the last five years, state records show. All victims acquired the worm in Latin America.

"However, it's underreported - there are more cases out there than we know about," Engelthaler said. "The numbers don't tell the whole story.

"Americans have to be very cautious about what and where they eat in Mexico - how clean the food is and how it's handled. Always wash your food, or make sure it's been washed before you eat it. Eat in places frequented by Americans, that have a good track record of cleanliness."

A truer picture of the numbers are the 30 to 40 cases of brain-affecting disease from the pork tapeworm - known as neurocysticercosis - treated by Tucson's top exotic infectious disease specialist, Dr. Eskild Petersen at the University of Arizona, during his 30-year career. Of three cases this year, one involved an Arizona resident, with the others diagnosed in Latin immigrants.

"This parasite is said to be the number one cause of epilepsy in Central and Latin America," Petersen said, noting that epileptic seizures are the primary symptom when the parasite invades the brain.

"But it is exceedingly rare for tourists vacationing in these countries to pick it up," he said. "You are more likely to see it in the people who live in the rural villages, or in Americans who visit these places for longer periods of time."

That exactly describes Dawn Becerra, 48, who suffered severe, disabling seizures three years after she returned from four years of university study in Oaxaca, where she became violently ill after eating pork tacos at an outdoor restaurant.

She agreed to talk about having "a worm in my brain" - something she says "really creeps people out" - because she wants to warn of the dangers of eating pork in Mexico.

Fluent in Spanish, comfortable in and familiar with Mexico, Becerra described herself as someone who "would eat anything anywhere."

"We lived in the jungle with Indian populations, and I never refused the food I was offered. Now I do," said Becerra, who lives in California.

She traces her tapeworm infection to eating pork tacos in 1994 because of severe vomiting, diarrhea, chills and muscle pain that struck just hours later and lasted two weeks.

"I do think it was the pork, but that is speculation," she said. "I could have gotten it from someone with dirty hands who prepared my food. You can't really know."

If a human eats tapeworm-infected pork, the mature tapeworm will develop in the digestive tract and stay there. It may or may not cause symptoms, such as weight loss.

But that worm will lay eggs, which are shed in the feces. And if traces of the larval-infested feces are ingested - by putting your own unwashed hands in your mouth or if someone's dirty hands handle your food or water - the larvae get into the digestive tract, work through the digestive wall and enter the bloodstream, traveling to various organs, including the brain.

It can take months to years to develop the symptoms of brain damage caused by the larvae.

So, the immediate, acute illness Becerra suffered was the least of her worries. It was not until three years later, after she and her husband had moved back to the United States, that she began to suffer dizziness, chronic, painful headaches, then severe, disabling seizures.

After several failures to diagnose her problem in California, doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale found a lesion on her brain indicating tapeworm infection and prescribed surgery to have it removed.

"At first, it was just so weird to me - it was like some bizarre movie where some awful bug crawls into your ear," Becerra said. "I was really freaked out. All this is caused by a worm in my head - nobody really wants to say they have a worm in their brain."

But Becerra was one of the lucky ones. She had only one brain lesion, meaning she could undergo surgery to remove it, for a complete cure.

Victims with more than one lesion usually cannot have surgery, because it would affect too much of the brain. They must depend on toxic drugs to try to get rid of the worm.

"We have greater success treating the adult tapeworm," Engelthaler said. "Getting rid of the larvae is much more difficult."

Though considered cured, Becerra has lingering, minor memory and concentration problems but does not know if that is due to the parasite or the surgery. She is working on a master's, and recently returned to Mexico for four months.

"But this changed everything for me when I am there," she said. "Now I am extremely careful about what and where I eat in Mexico.

"I definitely do not eat pork there, and I never will again."

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I am Jewish, but was not raised to be kosher. I personally have had no ill effects from pork. I, like Yod, enjoy pepperoni pizza, and other foods that contain pork.

[Botz]

QUOTE(Botz @ Jan 24 2005, 08:01 PM)

While we are on the subject of Haggis this is worth reading...

What is a Haggis ?

A haggis is a small animal native to Scotland. Well when I say animal, actually it's a bird with vestigial wings - like the ostrich. Because the habitat of the haggis in exclusively mountainous, and because it is always found on the sides of Scottish mountains, it has evolved a rather strange gait. The poor thing has only three legs, and each leg is a different length - the result of this is that when hunting haggis, you must get them on to a flat plain - then they are very easy to catch - they can only run round in circles.

After catching your haggis, and dispatching it in time honoured fashion, it is cooked in boiling water for a period of time, then served with tatties and neeps (and before you ask, that's potatoes and turnips).

The haggis is considered a great delicacy in Scotland, and as many of your compatriots will tell you, it tastes great - many visitors from the US have been known to ask for second helpings of haggis!

The noise haggis make during the mating season gave rise to that other great Scottish invention, the bagpipes.

Many other countries have tried to establish breeding colonies of haggis, but to no avail - it's something about the air and water in Scotland, which once the haggis is removed from that environment, they just pine away.

A little known fact about the haggis is its aquatic ability - you would think that with three legs of differing lengths, the poor wee beastie wouldn't be very good at swimming, but as some of the Scottish hillsides have rather spectacular lakes on them, over the years, the haggis has learned to swim very well. When in water, it uses its vestigial wings to propel itself forward, and this it can do at a very reasonable speed.

Haggis are by nature very playful creatures, and when swimming, very often swim in a group - a bit like ducks - where the mother will swim ahead, and the youngsters follow in a line abreast.  :

Shiloh[/b

]...Is this a joke? I have never heard THIS before!!   

Now you don't really want me to answer that do you ...my Scottish ancestors were a dour bunch at the best of times.

[Laura]

You guys have gone on with toooooo long posts. Lost interest in what could have been a good subject.

[nebula]

Hey!

I've eaten crocodile, camel and kangaroo when I was in Australia.

Didn't care for the roo so much - the taste slightly reminded me of liver (which I don't like).

Forget the croc! The meat tasted very good, but man! I had to chew that thing for five minutes before I could swallow it! No thanks.

But that camel was good! I'm guessing the camel might be "bad" due to fat content, but that's a guess. I mean the meat was very moist and tender.

That being said, I can appreciate the dietary restrictions. Yeah, eating scavengers and filter-feeders is not the most healthy thing in the world.

Also, by eating fully cooked meat you definantly avoid them nasty parasites. (Why the Law states not eating meat with blood still in it.)

That being said, pigs and catfich raised on farms aren't going to be as bad for you as one from the wild. At least not the farms in America, as they are given "proper" food to eat.

What I could read of these articles about the pigs were a bit too "sensationalist" for me to take terribly serious, though.

And I missed something, but where was the evidence presented about pork being undigestible?

[Guest brotherswmiller]

Hey!

I've eaten crocodile, camel and kangaroo when I was in Australia.

Didn't care for the roo so much - the taste slightly reminded me of liver (which I don't like). 

Forget the croc!  The meat tasted very good, but man! I had to chew that thing for five minutes before I could swallow it!  No thanks.

But that camel was good!  I'm guessing the camel might be "bad" due to fat content, but that's a guess.  I mean the meat was very moist and tender.

That being said, I can appreciate the dietary restrictions.  Yeah, eating scavengers and filter-feeders is not the most healthy thing in the world.

Also, by eating fully cooked meat you definantly avoid them nasty parasites.  (Why the Law states not eating meat with blood still in it.)

That being said, pigs and catfich raised on farms aren't going to be as bad for you as one from the wild.  At least not the farms in America, as they are given "proper" food to eat.

What I could read of these articles about the pigs were a bit too "sensationalist" for me to take terribly serious, though. 

And I missed something, but where was the evidence presented about pork being undigestible?

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Nebula ever tried horse or cat?

BSWM

[Work in Progress]

That is so gross, Reb. Thanks. I already had my dinner. But now I feel like meeting Ralph at the big white throne. tongue.gif

Does that mean you aren't interested in a "pot luck" dinner invitation .......?

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Well, I'll tell ya what. You come here, but come empty handed, 'k?? No need to bring anything in a pot that, with any luck, won't KILL me.

mainly because i'm not interested in some anti-pork agenda.

ROTFL

[Work in Progress]

You guys have gone on with toooooo long posts. 

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[ayin jade]

Here is a whole search on beef and worms. All these articles, and yep, a couple of people were infected too. Enjoy!

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=beef%2C+w...eb-t&fl=0&x=wrt

Dont forget mad cow disease. You dont have mad pig disease. Deer and elk have their own version: chronic wasting disease.

To each their own. You really ought not to be condemning of people for what they eat. Shouldnt the focus be on the Lord, and on saving the lost? Why chastise the Body of Christ over food?

[Work in Progress]

Oy. I think I'm going to become a vegetarian.

[Ovedya]

You know what?...............

This is getting downright gross.

I think the clear point is that not everything is good for you. Cook your food well, eat more vegetables, and stop worrying about what everyone else does or does not do with their own bodies. Period.