Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1905-06-10

Home Health
II Club
By DAVID n. REEDER, Phi. D., n. D.
La Porte, Ind.
TAPE WORM.
81


ing information regarding the Home
Health Club method of home treat
ment for the removal of tape worm.
1t has always been my custom to
teach as fully in regard to such things
az possible, so that those who wish to
use the home treatment may do so
with full and complete knowledge OF
tire cause, as well as symptoms and
method of cure, as possible. In this
way but few mistakes are liable to
occur.
There are three varieties of tape
worm that may live and thrive in the
human intestinal canal. and attain an
enormous size and cause disagreeable
symptoms. The embryos of tape worm
may enter the body with the food,
especially rare meats, and may he de-
rived from various animals, especially
hogs and dogs.
Taenia Solium Is the most common
form of tapeworm, and its most fire.
quent means of entering the system
Is with measly pork. Its head Is very
smaHl like a p%in-head). and is eight
sided, having four suckers by which
II clings to the intestinal mucous mem
brane. In front of these suckers will
be seen two rows of a dozen or more
minute claws. The neck Is very thin,
and about ar inch in length. and fol
lowing II are numerous segments
which make up the great part of the
worm. They may be very numerous.
and In all amount to ten feet or more
In length. Each segment is fiat and
Of a whltish appearance: new segments
are constantly developed. and the old
est one is farthest from the head and
may be expelled, while the others re
main. Each segment has both male
and female organs of generation, and
the eggs are discharged in large mum.
bcrs.
A developed tapeworm may re-
main in the intestinal canal for a
long time without giving evidence of
Its existence, and may not be definitely
recognized until segments have been
passed. As a rule there will be nerv-
business, dilated pupils. ~paleness, evil
dences of failing nutrition, uneasiness
through the chest and abdomen, and
symptoms of intestinal catarrh, and
sometimes diarrhoea. There may be
frequent faintness and dizziness.
No specific treatment should ever be
undertaken for the removal OF tape
worm until n Is positive that the
worm Is there, and the only way this
can be determined with accuracy is by
finding segments of it in the stools.
The following method Of removing
tapeworm will prove effectual: Fast
for two or three days, on a diet of salt
fisl, and milk; take, on the evening of
the last fast day, a large dose Of Ep-
som salts; next morning, take, IS min
utes apart, half a cupful of strong and
hot decoction of pomegranate root bark
half a pound to the quart and a pint Of
water, and boil 20 minutes. A lemon
may be sucked while this is being la
ken; four half cupfuls are necessary,
and it must be hot TO avoid nausea.
After the decoction is taken allow the
patient TO lie qaiet for an hour. Dur
ing this period there may be consider
able pain and discomfort throughout
the abdomen, and dizziness and head
ache. Then administer, in capsules,
half a drachm of ethereal extract OF
male fern, and In an hour repeat the
dose. If the bowels have no tendency
to move within two or three hours, a
large dose of castor oil should be adj
minissered. When the bowels do move,
the patient should sit upon a vessel
well filled with warm water, that the
worm may not be broken, and if dis
charged may be readily cleaned and
examined. If the head is not seen, the
effectiveness of the treatment cannot
be established; but it should not be
repeated for several months, or only
after segmnets have shown themselves.
Pumpkin seed oil, an ounce, in an
emulsion of milk, is recommended, but
is not so effectual as the above.
Another species of tapeworm differ
ing in several particulars from the or
binary variety spoken of as "Taenia
Solium,' is called Bothriocephalus La
tus. It's length may be enormus; spe-
cimens over 70 feet long have been re-
corded. The segments are broader
than they are long, and the head, in
stead of being eight-sided, is fiat and
oval, and has a tissure on either side
to take the place of the four suckers
of the taenia solium. The eggs have a
valve at one end, and they develop in
water and are eaten by fishes, and thus
the embryos are set free and get into
the muscles of the fishes and into the
stomachs of human beings. The symp-
toms produced by this worm in the hui
man alimentary canal are the same as
those of the taenia solium, and its ex-
pulsion is accomplished in a similar
manner Tapewotms very seldom re-
main in the intestines over four
months without discharges of segInents
taking place.