My graphics designer, Damien Francoeur, and I just finished a new flash presentation on blood parasites. We both worked immensely hard on this, my left brain and his right . . . well, plus some.
The pictures were used in a previous flash that crashed. We are still trying to resurrect it, but this one is artistic and dramatic even if not quite as educational. The pictures were taken in Europe using several different microscopes and cameras.
What you see in this photomicrograph is a blood parasite that has been immobilized by red blood cells that push up against the middle of the parasite to prevent the parasite from moving. This is a "hunting" pattern observed on a sample on a slide and it is carried out over a number of hours. The entire "campaign" is usually directed by a single white blood cell that communicates to each red blood cell, one at a time. Once the parasite is immolized, the white blood cell approaches the middle of the body and spews something on the parasite that breaks the skin. This kills the parasite and little bubbles of fermentation begin to appear where the skin has been blistered. You will note that the red blood cells do not gather at the ends of the parasite, only the middle.
It's very hard to tell you exactly what you are seeing. Of course, you are seeing creatures in the blood that mostly eat red blood cells, sometimes lots of them in one gulp. Some are, however, very picky and only eat crenated erythrocytes, red blood cells that are drying out and dying. Sometimes, they are like vacuum cleaners sucking up everything in sight.
According to a program on Discover Health some years ago, two-thirds of all people who ever lived on the Planet died of malaria. I am not sure exactly how medical archaeologists know this, but perhaps they think most of us emerged from the Dark Continent of Africa where malaria is still a major concern. What I have seen is nearly countless different parasites, all with different hunting behavior, and it's obviously not a pleasant picture, but it is fascinating.
Unlike intestinal parasites, the blood parasites are quite easy to kill, 6-36 hours, but like their more visible cousins, they can lay a lot of eggs, tens of thousands per day so recurrence is an ongoing issue as is reinfection. In another Discover Health presentation, an expert in tropical diseases and parasitology said that parasites mate for life. The male is considerably smaller than the female and you see one image of a mated couple in this presentation as well as an egg and many other images, which I do not find frightening, but the faint should probably think twice before watching:
The plant that you see is black walnut, but many herbs are effective in managing parasite infections. On kitchendoctor.com, there is a whole section devoted to parasites and the rationale of the herbal formulas is discussed in considerable detail.
I have two more presentations in progress, each with more detail about the mode of infection, symptoms, and the herbs that can be used to combat parasitization. Give us time, we are having to work in many languages and time zones so these presentations take a while to pull together.
Fusarium
On another note, I figured out what "the bug" was. My first guesses were all incorrect or perhaps there was a combination of factors at work. I ingested something purported to be 100% organic, non-GMO, pure vegetarian "food". It sat like a lump of burning fire in my stomach. I ran a fever, felt horrible, and was quite weak. It turned out this "food" was Quorn, made from fusarium, not even a mushroom, but a yucky fungus. My experience was so bad that I feel to warn people that this was not a case of an allergic response but a very severe gastrointestinal complication that seems to affect many people:
Yes, yes, if anyone should know better, it's me, but what I ate looked like some breaded tofu but it was entirely impossible for me to digest and unlike the lucky people who vomited, I felt like something was burning holes in my stomach.
I'm a very good cook but I am so curious about new things that I often eat things prepared by others but this should not be called "food" -- it's a disgusting fungus that does not belong in the human food chain. Be thee warned!
Thanks to this terrible experience, I am taking my commitment to growing my own food very seriously. Obviously, I plan to try holding the seeds in my mouth to see what happens!
For the first time since this list started, the volume of mail has been so enormous that I am not doing justice to your input, but I will catch up. You have had so many suggestions for names, many links to videos and blogs, and seed sources. I just need a bit of time and energy to organize all your suggestions.
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