As soon as the doctor says you've got parasites in your body, you don't need to hear any more details; they're all horrible, right? How can.it get worse than little tiny worms or something feeding on your insides?
Actually, it can get way, way worse. As it turns out, there's nothing in nature more creative than a parasite. For example...
THE GUINEA WORM WILL MAKE YOU DO IT'S BIDDING: It starts small. Really small. It begins life as a microscopic larva tiny enough to fit inside the common water flea. So, you go swimming and the flea makes its way down your throat. Now, not being adequately equipped to survive the harsh environment of the human stomach, the water flea is dissolved away, leaving the guinea worm larva behind. It finds a soft, fleshy cavity to burrow into and starts growing... and growing.
About a year after infection, the full-sized guinea worm is no longer microscopic, but instead measures 2-3 goddamned feet long. Being so large, a cramped human body is no longer adequate real estate. So the worm wants to get out, and here's where it gets weirder. The worm burrows to the surface of the skin and makes a creates a blister, and causes a burning sensation. It does this on purpose because it's figured out that a burning feeling in a limb makes humans want to dunk it in water. It pokes its wriggling head out of the blister, and releases its foul, milky brew into the water, containing hundreds of thousands of more larvae. They're promptly eaten by water fleas, and it all starts again.
THE FILARIAL WORM TURNS YOU INTO AN OBJECT OF HORROR: Fucking mosquitoes. As if there weren't enough reasons to hate those living dirty needles, the bastards are responsible for yet more horrifying diseases thanks to the multitude of parasites they unwittingly inject into us every time they feed.
One such parasite is the almost-too-weird-to-be-real filarial worm- and yes, it affects humans.
After a year spent bumming around in our bodies, the worms mature into adults and finally take up the job they were born to do, by moving into the lymphatic system. Doesn't sound so bad...
Well, here's the thing. The lymphatic system keeps excess fluids moving out of your body. It's one of those unnoticed bodily tasks that you don't appreciate until it stops working. Like if, say, a bunch worms clogged it up. The filarial worm does just that, bunches of them all working hard in the vessels near the lymph nodes, causing those vessels to become obstructed and inflamed. Shit starts backing up, and the tissue starts inflating like a freaking balloon.
Finally, you end up with massive and debilitating enlargements of the legs and genitals, a condition commonly known as elephantitis. Goddamned mosquitoes.
Source: {http://www.cracked.com/article_17199_7-most-horrifying-parasites-on-the-planet.html}
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