A few days ago livescience.com
published a news report about a rare
case of a young Australian woman diagnosed of the presence of tapeworm larvae in her brain causing
headache and blurred vision. She has to undergo
brain surgery to get rid of the larvae formed into a cyst.
The shocking effect of this news apart, there is a
surprise element too in having a parallel to a similar diagnosis but of a ‘toad’ developing inside the skull of – Tolkāppiyar”!!
Tolkāppiyar, as many may be aware, was the grammarian
of the 2nd and 3rd Sangam Assemblies. The name is generic
and applied to specific persons who composed the Grammar works during the Sangam
ages. The Tolkāppiyar I am referring to was the first Tolkāppiyar, the half-brother of Paraśurāmā, who lived in Rama’s time. His
original name was ‘Trunadhumagni’,
born to Jamadagni and a tribal woman, according
to ‘Bogar 7000’, a text
by Bogar Siddhar.
Tolkāppiyar was a disciple of Agastya (of
Rama’s time) who shifted to Kodagu
sometime after Rama met him , to do a 12 year penance at the water of Kaviri, entrapped on top of the mountain, now called Brahmagiri. A massive destruction by water had happened
just then in the Indian Ocean causing the olden Tamil lands of the 1st
Sangam period get submerged, and Agastya was preparing himself to establish the
Tamil Sangam Assembly at the new capital at Kavātam.
In this endeavor he was accompanied with
Trunadhumagni (Tolkāppiyar) and another one who came be known as “Therayār” – a name linked
to ‘Therai’ or toad!
This name has a connection to Tolkāppiyar who was suffering from headache for
nearly 10 years, the cause of which turned out to be similar to what is found
in the Australian woman.
The non-stop headache that Tolkāppiyar was suffering from was brought to the notice of Agastya. After thinking about the possible causes, he found out that a toad must have migrated from his nose to his head.
(Bogar
700)
What is meant here is that the fertilized egg of a
toad had gone through his nose. As a Siddha, Tolkāppiyar must have been practicing
many kriyas of yoga one of which happens to be cleansing the nasal path by doing
‘Jala Neti’ The
water poured through one nostril is expelled through the other.
At times if not properly done the water could go
through the sinus paths into the head region. Since Tolkāppiyar was said to be suffering
for 10 years, he must have got into trouble in the initial days of practicing
this kriya. At that time an unfertilized egg must have entered into system through
the water he used for Jalaneti.
Nowadays sterilized and salted lukewarm water is
used for this Kriya. Perhaps this is being insisted after a history of stray
instances of headaches connected with Jalaneti. In earlier days they might have
just taken river water for doing this kriya, and Tolkāppiyar’s was perhaps one
of the earliest rare cases of getting into trouble by an organism getting into
his body. Toads having a life span of 10 to 12 years and upto 50 years, and accustomed
to remaining trapped inside moist holes in rocks - this incident of a toad
found inside the skull of Tolkāppiyar sounds plausible.
The remedy could be got through brain surgery only! Bogar describes it in a very crude
and simple way, which I am just giving here. Agastya had opened his skull and
saw a toad sitting underneath! On seeing something happening around it, the
toad had further withdrawn inside. Seeing this a disciple of Agastya brought a
bowl was water in front of the toad. By its nature of affinity to water the
toad jumped into the bowl!
The cause of the headache gone now, Agastya closed
the opening he made and caused it to heal by his herbal medicine. The headache
of Tolkāppiyar was gone forever. The delighted Agastya praised this disciple
for his presence of mind in removing the toad. For this reason this disciple
came to be called as ‘Therayār’ the “Toad-man’
All these days, I was perplexed by this incident and
questioning myself of hypocrisy in accepting some verses of this text while
rejecting certain others such as this. But now after having read the report in
live science and probed further, I am getting convinced of the veracity of this
incident given by Bogar Siddhar.
Today this problem is known as Neurocysticercosis
caused by a specific strain of tape worm larvae that enter the body of the
person who eats pork infested with this worm. Livesicnce
reported in 2018 that more than 2000 persons are hospitalized every year in
the USA for this problem caused by eating infected pork that is under-cooked.
The eggs do not seem to get destroyed so easily in cooking it seems. Once
inside the body they may hatch inside the intestines. The released larvae may
go anywhere in the body, including the brain. Once they settle down in the
brain, depending on the part of the brain, neurological and other problems occur
with headache as a prominent symptom.
This problem is found endemic in developing
countries and contacted by those travelling to those countries, says the
report. The Australian woman became newsworthy for being the first one to get
it indigenously in Australia.
My interest in this issue lies with the justification
it offers for a similar problem experienced by Tolkāppiyar – and reported in
Bogar 7000. The text is very clear about how a living organism got into his
head, i.e. through his nose. A Siddha (disciple
of Agastya) coming to get a name connected with toad cannot be dismissed as fictional.
Now the entire incident doesn’t seem fictional after coming to know about
larvae settling down in the brain. This must make us accept the other information
in Bogar 7000, of the knowhow on skull surgery.
It must be noted here that Therayār is well known
for works on medicine and health. Even this text contains information herbal
preparation for varied uses. The other facet of this text is that it gives information
on birth, works and end of many ancient sages including Vyasa and Valmiki. I am led to say
that Dandakaraya vana of
Rama’s times was home of many sages who happened to be siddhas of exemplary
and unusual power.
******
From
Woman's odd
headache was from tapeworm larvae in her brain
By Rachael Rettner -
Senior Writer 3 days ago
A young woman in Australia was found to have
tapeworm larvae lurking in her brain — a very unusual diagnosis considering she
had no risk factors for the condition, according to a new report of the case.
Indeed, it's believed to be the first "locally
acquired" case of the disease in Australia, that is, in someone who hadn't
traveled out of the country, the report said.
The 25-year-old woman went to the hospital after
experiencing headaches for a week, according to the report, published Sept. 21
in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. She was no stranger
to headaches — she had experienced migraines with visual "auras" on a
regular basis since the age of 18. But her latest headache seemed different. It
didn't go away when she took painkillers, which usually cured her headaches.
And her visual symptoms were more severe, with her vision becoming blurry at
times.
An MRI of her head revealed a single brain lesion,
which doctors suspected was either a brain abscess or tumor. But
when doctors performed brain surgery to remove the lesion, they got a surprise.
The lesion was really a cyst, and it wasn't made of human tissue. Further tests
revealed that the cyst contained tapeworm larvae.
The woman was diagnosed with neurocysticercosis, a
parasitic disease that occurs when a person ingests microscopic eggs from a
pork tapeworm (Taenia solium). When the eggs hatch, the larvae can travel
throughout the body, including to the brain, muscles, skin and eyes, where they
form cysts, according to the World Health Organization.
After the cyst was removed, the woman did not need
further treatment for the infection.
This tapeworm is common in developing nations,
including countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The life cycle of the
Taenia solium parasite usually requires pigs to have contact with human feces,
and so infections are most often found in areas with poor sanitation practices
in which pigs come into contact with human feces, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
But in Australia, all previous reported cases have
been among people who either immigrated to the county or traveled to areas
where the disease is endemic before returning to Australia. (Similarly, in the United
States, nearly all cases occur in people who have immigrated from areas where
the disease is endemic.)
Exactly how the Australian woman caught the disease
is a mystery. She was born in Australia and had never traveled overseas.
However, people can catch neurocysticercosis from close contact with a person
who is infected with the pork tapeworm. (Tapeworm carriers can pass on the
parasite if they don't wash their hands properly, because the tapeworm eggs
pass in the feces.) However, the woman did not report having a previous or
current contact from an endemic area.
The woman did work as a barista, and so the authors
speculated that she may have been exposed through her job, which entailed
"ongoing casual contact with people from a variety of geographical
regions." But if this did happen, it would be a very rare event, given the
countless numbers of people who work in the Australian hospitality industry who
haven't caught this infection, the authors said.
Still, given the ease of travel between countries,
it is perhaps not surprising that "sporadic infection can occur in people
who would otherwise be considered at no or very low risk of infection with T.
solium," the authors said.
The Australian woman's case is similar to that of a
New York woman who was diagnosed with neurocysticercosis last year. The woman,
Rachel Palma, also developed the disease without having any risk factors, Live
Science previously reported.
The authors of the new report hope their case raises
awareness about the possible risk of locally acquired cases of
neurocysticercosis occurring in non-endemic countries.
Originally published on Live Science.
