All About Neurocysticercosis

Oct 11, 2011
Lalitha Goteti

Neurocysticercosis - Image (public domain) - United States Federal Government, Wikimedia Common

Neurocysticercosis is now an extremely rampant parasitic disease in the USA. Nausea, diarrhea, and general confusion are few symptoms of this disease.

Cysticercosis, a parasitic disease, is usually found in developing nations including Mexico, Central America, China, Korea, India, and parts of Eastern Europe. This parasitic plague is now becoming extremely rampant in the United States due to influx of immigrants. When cysticercosis affects the brain or spinal cord, the condition is called neurocysticercosis.

Causes of Neurocysticercosis

Neurocysticercosis is usually acquired via the consumption of food contaminated with eggs of Taenia solium, the pork tapeworm. Due to poor hygiene conditions, the food becomes contaminated when eggs of the tapeworm are shed in stool and when these eggs are ingested and exposed to gastric acid in the human stomach; they lose their protective capsule and turn into oncospheres, the larval cysts. Once the oncospheres cross the gastrointestinal tract, they migrate to the brain, muscle, eyes, and other structures via vascular system. Once they reach the brain, the larval cysts (cysticerci) at first generate a trivial immune response, and may reside in the brain as viable cysts for years.

Symptoms of Neurocysticercosis

The viable cysts remain asymptomatic in many patients. Symptoms usually start when the cysts are in the process of dying, which causes the brain to swell. The symptoms depend upon which part of the brain is affected. The most common symptoms of neurocysticercosis are:

headache
nausea
general confusion
visual disturbances
abdominal cramps
diarrhea
symptoms of chronic meningitis or arachnoiditis (when infection develops in the base of the brain or in the subarachnoid space)
hydrocephalus, which may result from obstruction to the flow of cerebrospinal fluid of the brain by the larval cysts
infrequently, may manifest as a psychiatric illness.

Death can occur with severe infections of neurocysticercosis.

Treatment of Neurocysticercosis

The treatment options include neuroendoscopic removal of the cyst, treatment with antihelminthic medications which is usually limited to small asymptomatic cysts, treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs, and placement of a shunt.

Albendazole and praziquantel are the chief antiparasitic drugs used to treat neurocysticercosis. However, whether and when antiparisitic drugs should be administered is controversial.

Prevention of Neurocysticercosis

Drinking boiled water, thorough washing and peeling of vegetables, especially those eaten raw, thorough cleaning of hands before meals and after defecation, and proper hygienic conditions in and around where you live can help prevent neurocysticercosis.

Neurocysticercosis, a leading cause of epilepsy in the developing nations, is becoming progressively more widespread in the United States. Across the globe, better insight of neurocysticercosis and the life cycle of T. solium are needed to develop appropriate prevention programs.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only; it should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his/her health should contact a licensed medical professional.