Parasites: Detrimental And Symbiotic Relationships

Dissonance

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I don’t know if this is relevant to anything lol, but I’ve been obsessively learning about parasites the past few days. I’m both fascinated and haunted. Anyway, I read this excerpt about Trichinella in an article:

Pork chops and applesauce…and worms?!

“Turns out, they are pretty sinister. One of the ways a worm modifies a muscle cell “according to its own requirements” is by stimulating the growth of blood vessels around the cell. Not only can the worm hide out from the immune system by hanging out in your cells, but it can also steal route a steady supply of nutrients to itself. On top of this, the larvae don’t like oxygen, so they change the metabolism of the muscle cell. A cell that was once aerobic, using mitochondria to produce energy from oxygen, turns anaerobic: the worm shuts down all the mitochondria. He curls up and gets cozy in his new home, waiting for the muscle he’s living in to be eaten by a predator or scavenger, starting the whole cycle over. It’s still a mystery to scientists how T. spiralis manages this major muscle cell renovation.”

I thought this was really fascinating! They can chemically alter the metabolism of cells & even fuse them together to create a home. Would sugar consumption encourage or hinder their growth I wonder, since it encourages oxidative phosphorylation?

Also, weird tidbit, but having worms can be protective against autoimmune conditions. Studies have shown that individuals with Chron’s disease have been “cured” for as long as they had Trichinella. It is interesting that less sanitary parts of the world have far less autoimmune conditions. I guess your body doesn’t have time to attack itself when there’s so many other threats. Still, hard pass, I’d rather have mild autoimmune struggles than creepy crawlies inside of me.
 

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