Tapeworm found living in man’s brain for four years

A 1cm-long tapeworm has been found living in a man’s brain for four years. The man, who started suffering from headaches, seizures, altered smell ability, memory problems and increasing pain on his right-hand side, was tested for tuberculosis, lime disease, syphilis and even HIV, after MRI scans showed lesions in his brain.

His misery was finally discovered after scientists at St Thomas' Hospital in London took a biopsy of his brain.

How the tapeworm managed to crawl inside the 50-year-old man’s brain and traveled 5cm from the right side to the left, remains uncertain but it is believed that it can happen by eating infected food or via a Chinese medical remedy for sore eyes that includes raw frog.

Scientists also believed it could be transmitted by eating infected crustaceans or eating raw meat from reptiles and amphibians.

According to the leader of the examination team, Dr Hayley Bennett, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the man was from a Chinese background and had lived in the UK for 20 years but visited China often.

The patient was treated successfully