Tapeworm Symptoms, Treatment, And Prevention
82What are Tapeworms?
Tapeworms (cestoda) are a type of parasitic flatworm that live in the intestines of the bodies of host organisms, such as humans, cows, pigs, dogs, and cats. The most common tapeworms in humans are fish tapeworm, beef tapeworm, pork tapeworm, and dwarf tapeworm.
Fish tapeworms are the longest tapeworms, averaging about 30 feet long, but growing up to 100 feet. They can affect humans, bears, dogs, cats, seals, and weasels.
Beef tapeworms usually range between 10 to 15 feet, but can grow up to 65 feet long in some cases. They most commonly infect cows and humans, but can only reproduce asexually in human hosts.
Pork tapeworms are usually between 1/4 and 1/2 inch long, and inhabit pigs and humans.
Dwarf tapeworms are the smallest kind of tapeworm commonly affecting humans, only a few tenths of an inch long. They live in the intestines of rats (and, of course, people).
Life cycles of these types of tapeworms can be seen below. Click the thumbnail to see full-size images.
A Tapeworms' Life Cycle
Click thumbnail to view full-size
Causes & Prevention of Tapeworms
As you can see from the illustrations of tapeworm life cycles above, the cause of growth in humans is eating undercooked, infected meat or other means of ingesting tapeworm eggs or larvae. Therefore, prevention emphasizes personal hygeine and cooking methods.
Tips for Preventing Tapeworms:
- Wash hands after using the toilet
- Wash hands before and after handling meat
- Wash hands before eating
- Freeze meat for 12 hours before cooking
- Freeze fish for 24 hours before cooking
- Cook meat at temperatures of at least 150 degrees Fahrenheit
- Avoid undercooked meat and fish
- Promptly treat tapeworm in pets or livestock
Pictures of Tapeworms
Symptoms of Tapeworms
Often, tapeworm infections present no symptoms whatsoever. When symptoms do arise, however, it's important to pay attention. Keep in mind that not all of these symptoms will necessarily appear together.
If you have been exposed to undercooked meat or infected animals, and have any doubt about whether or not you might have tapeworms, please consult your doctor immediately.
Signs of Intestinal Tapeworm Infection
- Nausea
- Muscle weakness
- Diarrhea
- Weight loss
- Malnutrition
- Abdominal Pain
- Passing worm sections in stool
Tapeworms can also move out of the intestines and start infesting other tissues. This is a much more serious condition, causing complications that can require treatment in their own right.
Complications of Invasive Tapeworm Infection
- Fever
- Cystic lumps or masses
- Allergic reactions
- Bacterial infections
- Possible seizures (where brain tissue is involved)
Tapeworm Treatment
If you are diagnosed with tapeworms by your doctor (usually by stool sample), there is effective treatment.
Since tapeworms prevent the aborption of food, and also medication, the most common course of treatment for tapeworms must attack the worms directly. Your doctor will usually prescribe one of several anthelmintics (parasite-expelling drugs), which are toxic to the worms. These medications kill and dissolve the bodies of adult tapeworms, but do not exterminate larvae, so it is key to avoid reinfection using the prevention tips above.
Doctors often recommend a gentle laxative to ease the passing of the tapeworms, but because tapeworms attach themselves with barbed hooks to the inside of your intestinal walls, laxatives are not usually an effective treatment by themselves, contrary to proponents of colon cleansing.
If you have an invasive infection including cysts, anti-inflammatory drugs such as steroids may be used to reduce swelling. In extreme cases, where cysts are life-threatening, surgery may be necessary.
While the word "parasite" is a scary one, there is not usually a need for excessive concern where tapeworms are concerned, unless they have gone undetected for long periods of time. In people who receive appropriate treatment, over 95% are successfully rid of all eggs, larvae, and adult worms.
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Comments
Maddie,
Excellent HubPage!
Very informative and the graphics were very well done. Thank you!
Respectfully, Nicholas Chase
Maddie,
You taught me something new. I had no idea that humans can get tapeworms like pets do. I know for years people teased my brother when he would eat a lot and say "what do you have a tapeworm" but to actually see a photo of it. YUK!!
Thanks for alerting us through your remarkable article.
Stay well, Laurie
Black Walnut extract kills tapeworms, and then the laxatives can expel them.
When I was in college taking Anatomy and Physiology 101, we had a woman from the health department come give us a talk on tapeworms. She had a gallon jar full of large tapeworms. She said they came out of a two year old girl. I cannot imagine the agony that child must have been in.
To get rid of tape worms and other parasites, it is a parasite cleanse that is needed rather than a colon cleanse.
The best ones have a combination of herbs such as clove, garlic, black walnut, wormwood, etc. because no one herb will cleanse all types of parasites.
The best to you.
Kelley Eidem
Together we can cure cancer - one person at a time!
good read, I will never look at meat and tape worms the same again!
Good job on this hub Maddie! You really presented this information in an authoritive, effective manner. Thank you very much for that. I appreciate that. It is very helpful.
marketingmergenow
Interesting stuff and the illustration of the Pork and Beef worms are totally “Alien-like” gross’n scary. I’m turning vegan! Will I have nightmares now of the attacking GIANT tapeworms from planet Uranus? Lol…. OMG, remind me not to bring the laptop into the bathroom with me, lol.There was an ANIMAL PLANET episode featuring a schoolteacher couple that went on a camping/fishing trip. It turns out they didn’t cook their fish long enough and had tapeworms! Makes me think now of Sushi worms, but fresh water fish, you’d think, would be more susceptible to the dreaded worm than salt water, but who knows?
I actually have these and have always had problems having bowl movements, I actually never go and use Colonics. Which I where I have been seeing them. Doctor perscribed medication and I'm still taking them. Its a scarey thing to look at. I wish I could find a way to figure out how to have normal bowl movements but after every treatment, meds, x-rays even colonoscopy, you name it. There is nothing supposably wrong.
say if u have a cat that had worms, and u somehow contracted worms from the cat how long does it take for symptoms to start?
There is no such thing as tapeworms..they are fictional. You are all idiots.
tapeworms are there in humans although they rarely cause serious effects may be thats why they are overlooked.
Thanks for the info! I have tapeworms myself and I starte freaking out when I found out. I still have to go the doctors and get medication.
Carl must be a doctor
i have a tapeworm, it's destroying my life i don't know what to do I feel tired all the time I can literally feel it draining all my energy and taking all my food I have a harsh cough and get a tickly throat when it moves and can feel it eating my food, get really bloated and can feel it in my intestenes and can eat and eat and eat. I've been to the doctors loads but they just say it's in my head which is so frustrating i just wanna get rid of it and get on with my life! my friends seen it to-so I know it's really there and pharmacys won't prescribe the drugs without seeing a doctor-i've ordered internet ones but they haven't worked and are expensive
Huh I didnt know this. Well looks like I get extra credit in health class after all! =D
GREAT HUBPAGE,GREAT INFORMATIONS.
REGARDS
I have felt a pain in my upper left side and have been kinda weak lately could it be a tapeworm? I also eat a lot, but have been for years :)
great info! they used to actually have a diet pill that contained tape worms.
That was an awfully convincing fictional tape worm hanging out of my rear a few months ago. I learned my lesson a bit too late about raw fish, salmon in particular. Into the freezer it goes in the future!
BB
I only read this coz i think i may have tapeworms- at this age....all that meat i ate during easter holiday must've been the cause. So i guess i should making my way to the doctor now...
I saw a couple of you guys put that tapeworms eat food. I am in Vet school and had to take a parasitology course. Tapeworms do not necessarily eat food, they absorb the nutrients your body breaks down through their skin, which doesnt leave your body enough for you to absorb. They have hooks to anchor themselves in one spot.
As for the one who said they had abdominal pain...you definitely should go the doctor, tapeworms can cause severe cysts on organs (such as your liver), when these cysts grow big enough they can cause severe pain. If you have this pain, and they find a cyst, plus you have a higher white blood cell count then a tapeworm is definitely a possiblity.
David I- most tapeworms are species specific and humans are generally the intermediate host, in rare cases certain species can cross over into another one, but usually they reject the host after a certain time. canine and feline tapeworms don't usually affect humans. Tapeworms are transmitted to humans via the fecal oral route, or direct ingestion, where as in canine and feline fleas pass the larva through the dog and cats blood. As maddie said, most tapeworms in humans are that of pigs, beef, and fish (that would be the oral route). If you did by chance get exposed to the tapeworms of your cat and one did infect you, generally it would reject its host after a few months, but its hard to say so you should get it checked out if you have symptoms!
As for Carl?? who in the world told you tapeworms were fictional??? you should come work a day at my equine practice reading fecals all day long....and then you can try to tell me we are all idiots...
i have all symthoms of tapeworms,my cat has been treated resently for tapeworm and about 3 months ago also so twice now she has had them from fleas,will it go away like the other brandy said,i have made a app with my m.d but its weeks away,i kindof wont to run to hospital!!!!!!!
Say, if you try "Paragone" found at most health food stores or online health food stores. It works really good but you need to do a followup because the de wormer does not kill all the eggs. I lost alot of weight. Also, tapeworms can be stubborn. I took 5 large gelatin garlic/parsley capsules and had all the tap beer I could handle (Fat Tire) with my sis one evening. I passed a yucky, skinny tape worm the following am...After my morning coffee. My tummy was empty because I ate only fruit that day so it really worked. No hospital for me. Thank you God!
Carl should try coming into the real world, we were shown human tape worms in jars at school many many years ago, horrible looking things
I hear a lot of people mentioning black walnut..... I am allergic to tree nuts..... how would not using black walnut affect my trying to get rid of possible tapeworms?
Where do the cysts usually appear on Humans? My cat has tapeworms back but she is pregnant and can't be treated. I recently had a cyst under my armpit and it's scaring me now.
We were just told that my 8 month old son has a tape worm. We have no idea how he might have contracted it. Our dogs do not have fleas and are on a monthly worm pill. We don't have any cats. He has never had any meat yet, that I know if. The whole family wash their hands almost compulsively. How long can the egg live outside of the host? How are some of the other ways tape worm can be transmitted? How long can someone have a tape worm before symptoms appear? What are some of the things I need to watch out for to make sure there are not additional problems from having a tape worm? Is it true that everyone has a tape worm, it just bothers some once in a while?
If I found out I had worms, I would have to be anesthetized, put on the operating table and they'd be surgically removed. I don't know why, but nothing is more creepy to me. My cat had round worms, and I had a very difficult time with that. I would be downright traumatized if I got them myself. Thanks for the great, albeit, slightly disturbing hub. :)
Thank you and more power!
aww shit... i just ate sashimi... and now i'm reading this... gahh
i'm growing paranoid and looking out for some abnormal signs.
Great information, Thanks a million and GOD bless
I am a CNA (nursing assistant) at a nursing home, I work 3rd shift. Well, a patient of mine was complaining of watery stools & vomiting - I found a worm in her bathroom floor that I believe to be an intestinal worm of some sort. Of course, I obtained the specimen and sent it to the lab. I decided to do alittle research of my own on the internet, but I am not having much luck! The worm was dark gray, flat, and about 2.5 inches long. The head was that of a tape-worm but from what I've read about tape worms, they are not dark gray. What do you all think it was??
I have tapeworms.....no doubt about it. I made a doctor mad by accusing him of not diagnosing me and selling me stuff I didnt need for insurance money. ha!!! true, but I had no idea when I had my female exam he would stand up and crush something inside me by my left ovary. I developed things moving and huge cysts. He said If I ever said the word worms to him again after complaining during the following year, he would have me commited. His treatment for the record was two biltricide pills. I had been cat bitten and thought maybe it was round worms and he had given me 3 day treatment of mebendazole. After that 3 things bit inside my leg. That was it. I had to go to a different state to get help because he said I had neuropothy and the hospital said to take a benedryl. I went to Florida and found out about my neuropathy....it was the cysts I mentioned large enough to tilt my whole uteris. I had surgery and later they started growing again. In the surgery, 4 cysts were removed, my uteris, glands, and gall bladder stuffed with slimey stuff.????? Baby tapeworms I have seen in stoles this year have been slimy coating. My tapeworm is aproximately 25 feet, I think. It connects to something in my stomach area and runs down to feet and back up on both legs and up back thru each arm to hands. I have 3 smaller tapeworms approximately 2to 3 feet long. I think that could have been what I got when the cat bit me and I had the feeling of being bitten inside my leg when I took the mebendazole. There were 3 spots that felt like a bad biting. Now I have a ton of babies floating all over my insides and no one will do a thing about it because everyone is backing the doctor or he has convinced them I am crazy or they think they cant do anything about it. Baby tapeworms and eggs hardly ever show up in the stools. If you take other medications, then there is a good chance doctors will not find the enzyme your body produces when you are combating tapeworms. This is serious. Hospitals say that tapeworms are not life threatening so they wont admit you for that so you are left at the mercy of the GI doctor that reverts back to the theology of stool samples and blood test. Most take one stool sample and say you dont have worms. If they took one every day for several days or even a week, they would find out there are there. I saw a google where a fellow went to many doctors and he throws up the worms and passes them from intestines and he has given samples and the doctors scratch their heads and dont know what to do for him. He was scared to death. I am not scared to death. I believe in Christ and foolish or not, it gives me the ability to cope with this nuisance that is hurting me almost all day and all night long now. If God does not lead me in a path for help then I will die and be with him. End of my story. God bless you all and I hope you never have to deal with this horror. Also I have learned a lot about all these things and there is a good possibility part of my family is infected to but they dont believe anything is wrong with me because of the doctors so they sure wont think anything could be wrong with them. This is a horrible thing happening because of basically fleas. Give people back chloradine to spray and contain the flea population that is spreading all over the U.S. Thank you for reading this.
I made a few typing errors, so forgive me about that. I forgot to mention. After my surgeon talked to the original doctor, then he tried to get me institutionalized. Then when I grew new tapeworms, I grew every kind there were. I took every medicine I could get my hands on from the internet, homepathy and herb store including colon cleanses and am down to only having 2 now. Always being poor. A dollar short and day late, it has been hard to get enough medicine so I could not contain the problem and kill them all. So I have these two kinds now...the huge slimy one like the first ones I had before surgery and the 3 skinny ones that streak thru me. I did manage to kill the ones that made me test positive for diabetes. I no longer have that. lol It is hard to get medicine on internet, but type in no prescription Praziquantel (biltricide), albenza and (Telmitin for dwarf tapeworms). If you hurt enough or grow them big enough, you will try anything. I tried all the colon and herb combos first. Nothing worked. Mostlly it is hard to determine how much to take. Most med work out 4000 miligrams every 6 hours minimum for a large person.
I pass 2 inch worms. I dont know what they are. I take colon cleanes and black walnut and wormwood and garlic. I am better now than I was 4 years ago. My body was horribly infested. I thought I was going to lose my mind with them in my head. I still dont know what they are, but keep trying to fight them. I did learn this. Doctors as a rule know nothing about worms if it is worse than a round worm or pin worm. They dont know what to do and dont know how much medicine to prescribe, so if you get them......you are probably on your own!
I think my cat has tape worms. I found little rice or seed like peices everywhere in her bedding. I read that that is a sign, she has been vomiting too, I thought it was just hairballs. I am really worried that I or my family may have contracted them as well. Has anyone contracted them from a cat? Any advice besides treating my cat?
excellent and great information thank you
~Shelly, ur cat has worms for sure, and you can buy a remedy (antihelminthic) at the pet store. It is about 20 bucks for four tablets. make sure to throw away the bedding bc those are the larvae you are seeing and can reinfect your cat or infect your children. get the cat to the vet to be treated for fleas, as fleas and worms go hand in hand. maybe take your kids to your doctor for a test.
Hi Maddie I read your hub because I am thin ( I love it) but some think too thin. I have been thin my whole life, never gain or loose weight. I am very grateful.
My fellow coworker said one day kidding, "have you got tapeworms?" Your hub raised my eyebrows. Why can I eat to my hearts desire and never gain? I am very active. Thanks, I found through info on your hub No tapeworm, I would know it. 'Little paranoid Patti'? (Kidding,I was curious)
I am lovin hub pages. Check out one of my new spiritual hubs. Your hubs are a blessing for many. We do reap what we sow. Thank-You.
You go girl,Blessings. Hugs
Anyone that have tapeworm...how did u know u ahd it and what made u wanna got to the docter?
hi. i'm 12 years old and i have the really small tapeworms. my dad bought me tablets for it. i took them yesterday and they are still there, even though most people think they should be gone by now. and i have been taking precautions to not get re-infected. is this normal, or is the medicine not working?
Sheila, i feel sad for you. Man. I dont have tape worm and hope i never will, but that must be scary having it, and the fact that no one beleives you. Thank goodness Gods on your side.
BtW great hub Maddie
After looking at the symptoms i now realise that i dont have tapeworm, i got this weird thing where i feel so hungry, but when i eat it does nothing and im still hungry. I thought its either tapeworm or hormones.
p.s. Sheila remember its all in Gods perfect plan
peace out
The B.O.D
Well, this still doesn't explain why im constantly hungry, but I will never be hungry for fish again....I was worried I might be pregnant, sounds like it would be easier than having worms!!! yuck!
Ree, you should check your stool for any sign of worms. I had segments of tapeworm breaking off and moving around in my stool. Didn't know it was tapeworm then so went off to the pharmacy for some deworming tabs. Took them for a day and the next morning a 3.5m tapeworm made an appearance!! Needless to say I took myself straight off to the GP and he suggested I take Vermox 100mg twice a day for six days and then repeat 2 weeks later. Thank goodness I checked the toilet that day - otherwise I would never have known! The only other thing I could attribute to the tapeworm was SLIGHT abdominal discomfort.
does anyone know what the best over the counter meds for tapeworms in dogs is?
i think i may have tape worms becuase my dog has some sort ove white type flat headed small worms . i just noticed the worms recently and now i am worried i could contract them from my K-9 friend is that likely or possible?
Well I have to join the group. I too now have passed a worm it was in my stool. I freaked. I went to my doctor and she is testing my stool. I flushed my evidence. Oh well, the freaky thing is I have to now sit and wait when I know what I saw. The symptoms for me are some anal itching, and constipation and then sometimes soft stools. Plus major bloating. No weight loss, Damn. But I went ahead and got a herbal pararid product from health food store. The directions talked about how worms can also cause food allergies. The scariest news now is all the things they listed I'm allergic too. I did a food allergy test 6 months ago and got my results. So now I'm really freaking have I had these for six months. Yikes I just wish there was a quicker and more effective treatment. I dont go back to doctor's till Tuesday.
anne.moss says:
13 months ago
That's interesting. I have seen my share of tapeworm in cats, where they get it from fleas. It's easy enough to fix with cats, but like with humans, you have to prevent re-infection (by treating the fleas).