Tapeworms are intestinal parasites that are shaped similarly to a tape measure. Their eggs typically enter a human host from animals through food, particularly raw or undercooked meat. Tapeworm ...

Some tapeworm species can grow up to 30 feet long and thrive in the host’s gut for decades. Juan Gärtner – stock.adobe.com The headaches soon returned alongside a scary new symptom.

Because larvae can get into the muscles of their hosts, ... Tapeworms are uncommon in the U.S. today because of laws on feeding practices and inspection of the animals we use for food.

Tapeworms actually have three life cycles, the adult stage, larval stage, and egg stage, and depending on which form infects a host, they can result in different symptoms.

Tapeworms can live outside for months, waiting for a host to come along. You’re most at risk if you work around livestock or travel to a country that lacks clean drinking water and modern sewage ...

The tumor-like parasites can also spread to the lungs, brain, heart, bone, and other organs. In humans, the infection is insidious, with an asymptomatic incubation period of between 5 and 15 years.

The interaction between parasites and their hosts can be gruesome: They manipulate, invade and terrorize their unsuspecting hosts, often killing them in the process. From mind-controlling ...

Tapeworm larvae can survive outside of their human hosts. If pigs graze on vegetation that is contaminated with human feces containing the eggs or larvae (known as cysticerci), these are then ...

Tapeworms, whether they’re of the variety that use pigs, cattle, or fish as an intermediary host, don’t tend to cause negative or even noticeable impacts in the human body.