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What Is Neurocysticercosis? Its Causes, Symptoms And Treatment. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he once suffered neurocysticercosis, a brain infection linked to larvae from pork tapeworms
An image of a pork tapeworm.
What Is Neurocysticercosis?
Neurocysticercosis is a specific form of the infectious parasitic disease cysticercosis that is caused by larvae of a tapeworm found in pigs.
Neurocysticercosis occurs when cysts formed by the infection take hold within the brain, causing neurologic syndromes such as epileptic seizures.
Worldwide, it is a frequent cause of seizures. It’s been referred to as “arguably the most common parasitic disease of the human nervous system” and a “hidden epidemic”.
Although it was once thought to be a swine illness, cysticercosis is now recognized as the most prevalent helminthic infection of the neurological system and one of the primary causes of acquired epilepsy globally.
A computed tomography (CT) scan is used to identify neurocysticercosis.
Causes Of Neurocysticercosis
It is can be caused or gotten from consuming undercooked or raw pork that is infected with tapeworms. They produce tapeworm eggs in their stool and contaminate food or surfaces by not washing their hands As a result, tapeworm eggs may inadvertently be swallowed by them or by anyone around who eats that food or comes into contact with those surfaces.
The eggs develop into larvae after being swallowed and can move from the intestine to the brain. The larvae create cysts, which are fluid-filled pockets that resemble tiny, transparent balloons with a diameter of one centimeter.
The eggs are “real sticky, “They get on people’s hands and under their fingernails. Hand-to-mouth I think is an important route of transmission, said Dr. Clinton White, an infectious disease professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
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Signs and symptoms Of Neurocysticercosis
The symptoms of neurocysticercosis depends on the number and location of cysts, as well as the host’s immune response to the parasite.
The most common clinical manifestations include:
- Seizures
- Intracranial hypertension
- Focal deficits
- Cognitive alterations
- Headaches
- Blindness
- Meningitis
- Dementia
- Blurred vision
- Dizziness
- Psychosis or memory loss.
Treatment Of Neurocysticercosis
Neurocysticercosis is treated with praziquantel (PZQ) and/or albendazole as a long-term medicine in addition to epileptic therapy.
It could be required to use steroid medication to reduce the inflammatory response to dying cysticerci.
In certain situations, such as large parenchymal cysts, intraventricular cysts, or hydrocephalus, surgery for the removal of brain cysts may be required.
It has been demonstrated that albendazole lowers the risk of seizure recurrence in people who have a single non-viable intrathecal cyst.
More randomized controlled trials are required to assess the effectiveness of antiepileptic medications (AEDs) in preventing seizures in individuals exhibiting symptoms other than seizures, as well as the length of AED treatment in these circumstances.
