Dirty Veggies/Tapeworms Cause Epilepsy

[Bernard]

Report from an epilepsy conference in India:

Lack of sanitation primary reason for rising neurocysticercosis, an infection of central nervous system. Contaminated vegetables, unclean hands and a lack of sanitation and hygiene have made children in north India susceptible to neurocysticercosis, an infection of the central nervous system. It is also a leading cause of paediatric epilepsy.

Neurocysticercosis is caused by the larvae of the tapeworm called taenia solium and is one of the biggest causes of epilepsy in children.

"Every month, we get 100 new cases of neurocysticercosis in the OPD," said Dr Pratibha Singhi, Head, Paediatric Neurology and Neurodevelopment at PGI. "A study conducted by the department has shown that in case of focal epilepsy, where one area of the brain is affected, 60 per cent of epilepsy was because of cysticercosis."

Dirty veggies may lead to paediatric epilepsy

[RobinN]

In the age of tainted spinach, and unclean tomatoes, keep it in mind and wash your veggies carefully.

[Bernard]

NIAID media availability: Seizures following parasitic infection associated with brain swelling

WHAT: A new study by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) scientist Theodore E. Nash, M.D., and colleagues provides strong evidence associating seizures with areas of brain tissue swelling in people infected by a parasitic tapeworm. The swellings, called perilesional edemas, form around dead, calcified cysts that result when larvae of Taenia solium tapeworms lodge in the brain. The illness caused by T. solium infection—neurocysticercosis—is the most common cause of adult-onset seizures and epilepsy in developing countries where the tapeworm is endemic. Brain scans of individuals with this parasitic infection frequently show calcified cysts, but the clinical significance of perilesional edema around these calcifications and whether such edema is associated with seizures was not known.

The research was conducted in collaboration with Hector H. Garcia, M.D., in Lima, Peru. Dr. Nash, Dr. Garcia and their co-investigators studied 110 people with calcified cysts and a history of seizures. Between 1999 and 2006, 29 study participants had a seizure; of these, 24 were assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within 5 days of the seizure. Perilesional edema was seen on MRI in 50 percent of cases (12 out of 24 patients)—a strong association between edema and seizure relapse. In a control group of patients with infection but without an incident seizure while enrolled in the study, only 9 percent (2 of 23 cases) had perilesional edema.

The scientists conclude that perilesional edema is common and is associated with episodic seizure activity in people who have calcified T. solium cysts. Since perilesional edema is not found in most common diseases causing seizures, its presence here suggests a different mechanism as a cause. Therefore, seizures due to T. solium infection may be preventable and treatable in novel ways including with agents that control this type of inflammation.


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ARTICLE: TE Nash et al. Perilesional brain oedema and seizure activity in patients with calcified neurocysticercosis: a prospective cohort and nested case-control study. The Lancet Neurology. (Published online Nov. 4, 2008) DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(08)70244-8.

WHO: Theodore Nash, M.D., chief, Gastrointestinal Parasites Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, NIAID, is available to discuss this study.

CONTACT: To schedule interviews, please contact Anne Oplinger or Linda Perrett at 301-402-1663, or email aoplinger@niaid.nih.gov or lperrett@niaid.nih.gov.

NIAID conducts and supports research--at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide--to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH)--The Nation's Medical Research Agency--includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov

Seizures following parasitic infection associated with brain swelling

[drarvindr]

Neurocysticercosis caused by tenia solium is common in unwashed veggies in india because the more common source , pork , is not consumed in India. Taenia solium is the pork tapeworm. If you eat pork , be careful about where you buy it from and clean it thoroughly. The pigs defecates on vegetable patches which leads to the tapeworms' eggs being released on the veggie. Albendazole and mebendazole kill these worms.

[Meetz1064]

for clearing that up. I appreciate that. Although, over here in the States, it is still confusing why it would continue to happen.....laziness?