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Comment by nominated1 | Hacker News Reader

My description that “Cancer my well be parasites reaching various stages of killing the host” wasn’t great.

> They are your own cells, just with various mutations.

Could parasite eggs lodged deep inside tissue for a long time (a fusion or sorts) not produce similar results? Have any studies along those lines been done?

EDIT: Could the chemical signal they excrete to keep the eggs dormant or the chemicals they excrete at time of death cause a mutation or other illnesses?

Any reason why we don’t treat humans with preventives or do screenings for parasites? I remember reading that it’s estimated that 80% of the population likely has some kind of parasite. I not trying to drift off subject. It just seems to be a gaping hole that the medical industry has no interest in.

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A lot of things can cause cancer. For example, prostatitis and inflammation likely cause cancer, and likely are also correlated with it metastasizing. (I'm not claiming it's the cause or a sole reason but the evidence suggests it increases the risks.) I've never looked into parasites but it's possible parasites are associated with an increased relative risk of cancer, and the mechanism of action would probably be inflammation.

My guess is people are in effect checked for parasites by way of annual bloodwork and annual checkups. If someone started losing weight, for example, they'd go see a doctor who might investigate for parasites if the symptoms point to it. There is probably not much reason to do an annual parasite-specific test in people. Livestock cannot talk to us about their symptoms, and eat all sorts of crap, so there's some important difference there.

> Livestock cannot talk to us about their symptoms, and eat all sorts of crap, so there's some important difference there.

My understanding is that parasite eggs can live outside the host for months if not longer (surviving long winters, etc) and can be smaller than the eye can see. They’re effectively unavoidable and that a healthy immune system keeps them in check.

> they'd go see a doctor who might investigate for parasites if the symptoms point to it.

I am really struggling to see any interest in the subject and very little data. From what I’ve seen doctors are fairly dismissive even when the patient brings it up (although this appears to be mostly hearsay but again to little data on what would seem to be a fascinating subject for researchers).

Anyway, thanks for your time.

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