WEBVTT - Running with Parasites

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff from the Science Lab from how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot com. Hey guys, and welcome to the podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Alice and I don't look at the science

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<v Speaker 1>editor at how stuff works dot com. This is Robert Lamb,

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<v Speaker 1>science writer at how stuff works dot com. Today we're

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<v Speaker 1>taking you on a journey. We're running with parasites. Yept

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<v Speaker 1>running running barefoot, actually, which I didn't. I really wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>that aware that this was a thing until you blogged

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<v Speaker 1>about it. Like people are really into doing like marathon

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<v Speaker 1>running with no shoes or socks on. Right, it is

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<v Speaker 1>a thing. It is a big thing. But first we

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<v Speaker 1>are you kind of a believer in going barefoot in

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<v Speaker 1>the summertime? No, because, um, I my family spent a

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<v Speaker 1>couple of years up in Newfoundland, Canada, but most of

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<v Speaker 1>my time has been spent in the South. So we

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<v Speaker 1>were very I mean, it was really hammered into us

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<v Speaker 1>that you just you don't go walking around outside barefoot.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, you know, things will crawl into you, or

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<v Speaker 1>you'll step on something gross or sharp or um. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>for any number of reason, keep the shoes on when

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<v Speaker 1>you're outside. That's funny because I didn't. I don't remember

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<v Speaker 1>having any of that sort of public health message drilled

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<v Speaker 1>into my head when I was a kid. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>a sign of summer for me was taking off my

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<v Speaker 1>shoes running around, whether it was wait, where'd you grow

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<v Speaker 1>up in Connecticut? Ware? There there are no sharp things outside.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just christine and wonderful. I guess. So, I guess

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<v Speaker 1>Connecticut has has none of those things. I don't know,

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<v Speaker 1>it's just we. We never really I never really thought

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<v Speaker 1>about it. You know. I would go on like hot pavement,

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<v Speaker 1>I would go to the pool. I would probably go

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<v Speaker 1>on disgusting places that I should not have gone barefoot.

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<v Speaker 1>Well I will. I do. Think my shoes off at

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<v Speaker 1>the beach now, now that's different. That may not be safe.

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<v Speaker 1>So you don't peel your socks off at the shore's edge. No, no, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people are going barefoot now, and they're

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<v Speaker 1>going barefoot running in particular. UM actually tried it one

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<v Speaker 1>night because I was so curious. I am a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of an amateur runner, and I was curious because they say,

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<v Speaker 1>UM that it can improve your form when you're out there.

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<v Speaker 1>If you lose the shoes, you can improve your running efficiency. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>And this is based in the idea that we evolved

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<v Speaker 1>with these feet and if these feet can't cut it,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, you know, if God had minister where Nike's,

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<v Speaker 1>we've been born with them, right, absolutely, absolutely. Yeah. So

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<v Speaker 1>there's this whole athletic oriented subculture out there that's going barefoot,

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<v Speaker 1>and mostly it's runners. Um, but it's it's by no

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<v Speaker 1>means a new thing. I mean, in nineteen sixty there

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<v Speaker 1>is an Olympic gold medal winner shuffle along without shoes

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<v Speaker 1>in Rome. And before sneakers were invented, which was in

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<v Speaker 1>the early nineteenth century, UM, which incidentally was married to

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<v Speaker 1>the volcanization of rubber and Charles Goodyear. It's a whole

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<v Speaker 1>separate story, but pretty interesting. Um, before sneakers were invented,

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<v Speaker 1>you have to think that people weren't necessarily always running

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<v Speaker 1>in shoes. And then you have guys like Fitdipity is right,

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<v Speaker 1>the Porsche lab who had to you know, run the

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<v Speaker 1>first marathon. Who was the messenger for that barefoot I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know. I did a little searching on that. Well yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean they and and you had like naked wrestling

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<v Speaker 1>and all that. I mean, the old Olympics were pretty

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<v Speaker 1>h you know, don't let clothing get in the way

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<v Speaker 1>of a good sporting event, right, So we're kind of

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<v Speaker 1>getting back to our roots. Um with people running barefoot.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean there's a there's a whole culture out of

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<v Speaker 1>their barefoot races, their barefoot forums online. And for some

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<v Speaker 1>barefoot runners there are of course parasites, and the big

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<v Speaker 1>one is hookworm. Yes, hookworms, which are which are pretty

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<v Speaker 1>pretty like a lot of parasites, pretty amazing creatures. Um. Basically,

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<v Speaker 1>the life cycle here is, uh, you step on a

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<v Speaker 1>hookworm larva, and it crawls up through the sole of

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<v Speaker 1>your foot, makes its way up into your digestive system

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<v Speaker 1>where it breeds and reproduces, and then come back out

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<v Speaker 1>through the form of excrement and then crawls away from

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<v Speaker 1>the excrement to be stepped on again. So it's this uh,

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<v Speaker 1>this cycle. So I guess the main thing is you

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<v Speaker 1>would hope that that he's a barefoot running marathons would

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<v Speaker 1>would not be going through latrine zones or uh dog

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<v Speaker 1>parks or anything of that nature. How prevalent is hooker

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<v Speaker 1>in the US, well, uh, much much better than it was.

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<v Speaker 1>I understand you can still you can certainly still get it.

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<v Speaker 1>But if it's interesting around. Uh. Uh. John D. Rockefeller Sr.

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<v Speaker 1>Was looking for his next big project, right, and he

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<v Speaker 1>really wanted to help out the American South, where incidentally

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<v Speaker 1>we're podcasting from right now. Uh. And he was he

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<v Speaker 1>was kind of perturbed by the by the fact that,

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<v Speaker 1>like the the economic engine of the South was not

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<v Speaker 1>really getting going again. And uh so he sent down,

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<v Speaker 1>he formed a commission and sent people down to like

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<v Speaker 1>crunch the number and stuff and you know, see what

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<v Speaker 1>was wrong? You know, what what do we need to

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<v Speaker 1>need to do to kick started? And they they're taking

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of sick days from hookorm manufactus. Well, they

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<v Speaker 1>just found that a lot of Southerners were slow, pale, weak,

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<v Speaker 1>kind of gollamy, you know, and um and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>so they were they came back and they said, well,

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<v Speaker 1>there's no nothing wrong with this, that or the other,

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<v Speaker 1>but they seem like they might have some sort of

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<v Speaker 1>a lazy disease. So then Rockefeller lazy disease. Yeah, So

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<v Speaker 1>Rockefeller sends down a bunch of of doctors and they

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<v Speaker 1>start looking at some of the factors and they start

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<v Speaker 1>seeing that a lot of it is tied to the

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<v Speaker 1>soil types, like areas where there's like rich soil rich farmers,

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<v Speaker 1>then you have a lot of these pale gollamy uh Southerners. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>and then the poor farmers tend to be a little

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<v Speaker 1>better off. So it turned out that the big deal

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<v Speaker 1>was hookworms. Um. This was this ended up leading to

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<v Speaker 1>basically the invention of the outhouse because they they conducted

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<v Speaker 1>some experiments right to just see like how far the

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<v Speaker 1>hookworms travel from said excrement. So they put the they

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<v Speaker 1>put the pooh if you will, in a sandbox. Um. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the few times when poo and a sandbox,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess was was the it was okay, yeah, And

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<v Speaker 1>then they may they measured to see how far the

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<v Speaker 1>larvak traveled each day, all right, three days hookworm races, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>basically yeah. And they found that in three days it

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<v Speaker 1>could travel three ft and then it couldn't go any

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<v Speaker 1>farther it was, and then it would live for seven

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<v Speaker 1>days total and then it would die. All right. So

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<v Speaker 1>the problem was that you had these uh, poor anemic

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<v Speaker 1>Southerners going out there, um and they would you know,

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<v Speaker 1>they would be using the restroom in the same general

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<v Speaker 1>area and uh, and then you know, every day they're

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<v Speaker 1>getting more hookworms because the hookworms are, you know, moving

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<v Speaker 1>three ft out in every direction from where they're going. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>So the answer is you dig a hole at six

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<v Speaker 1>ft deep, all right, so the hookworm can only go

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<v Speaker 1>up four ft and and then maybe it's like just

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<v Speaker 1>a superhero of a hookworm. It could you know, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know, maybe it would go five feet, but there's

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<v Speaker 1>no way it's getting six right, not without just hookworm

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<v Speaker 1>in the in the Guinness World Book corrector's right, would

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<v Speaker 1>have to be some sort of super hookworm. So so yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly they Dundee Rockefeller people started saying, hey, how about this.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's dig a hole for everybody to poop in, and

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<v Speaker 1>we'll put a little house over it, and bam, the

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<v Speaker 1>outhouse is born. Excellent, excellent. They even had this cool

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<v Speaker 1>little film which you can actually watch online. The Rockefeller

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<v Speaker 1>people still have it up and uh and it's called

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<v Speaker 1>Unhooking the Hookworm, in which it refers to, uh, this

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<v Speaker 1>parasite is quote one of man's most dangerous enemies. Well

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<v Speaker 1>so it sounds like it certainly was for a while.

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<v Speaker 1>But I mean, hookworm is not the only thing that

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<v Speaker 1>you could encounter while you're running barefoot. Um, there's a

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<v Speaker 1>whole host of nasty infections out there that are just

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<v Speaker 1>waiting for your poor, unsuspect acting but faster feet. Um well,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean let's start with the basic one. There's there's

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<v Speaker 1>also athletes foot or tinya pettis. Yeah, and then there's

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<v Speaker 1>also stuff like you could get a staff infection, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>and nobody wants a staff infection or um fungal mace atoma.

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<v Speaker 1>And this one, I just dare you to look at

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<v Speaker 1>some pictures of this on the web. It is Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>it's terrible, It's terrible. It tends to occur more in

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<v Speaker 1>a tropical uh climate such as Mexico. And then like

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<v Speaker 1>what what do the photos look like? It's just narrowly

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<v Speaker 1>like what color? Is it more like a red or

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<v Speaker 1>a green? Well, actually, the foot that I saw was

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<v Speaker 1>it was kind of a brownish color um that was

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<v Speaker 1>starting to sort of fold in on itsse. It was

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<v Speaker 1>really terrible. And then um, you have stufinitely like sporo chicosis.

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<v Speaker 1>And this is um an infection that comes from handling

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<v Speaker 1>thorny plants, phagnum moss or stuff like build Hey, and

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<v Speaker 1>granted we're not going to be handling this stuff on

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<v Speaker 1>a daily basis. Maybe it's not something you might encounter

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<v Speaker 1>on a roadway, but if you're doing a little trail

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<v Speaker 1>running your stuff like that, you could technically encounter something

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<v Speaker 1>an infection like this. Do they run trails barefoot as well?

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not sure. I think actually the bare road is

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<v Speaker 1>your is your friends when, because otherwise it sounds like

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<v Speaker 1>these guys would just be running around on like just

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<v Speaker 1>big gross stumps, you know, with things crawling in and

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<v Speaker 1>out of them. So if you're still looking to run

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<v Speaker 1>barefoot or somewhat barefoot, we we came up with a

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<v Speaker 1>couple of solutions for you. Yeah, one and this is

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<v Speaker 1>pretty These are pretty cool. I I do not own

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<v Speaker 1>a pair, but I have a friend who has some.

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<v Speaker 1>There the Vibram five fingers and like a foot glove

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<v Speaker 1>basically like they tend to be like the ones I

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<v Speaker 1>saw the ones that my my friend has or are black,

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<v Speaker 1>so they kind of look like like guerrilla feet they

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<v Speaker 1>put on, and you know, and you can you can

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<v Speaker 1>you can wiggle his toes in them and all and

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<v Speaker 1>uh and yeah you just run with those. They you know,

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<v Speaker 1>you wouldn't want to wear them like on a date,

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<v Speaker 1>but uh, but they're pretty cool. For the whole barefoot

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<v Speaker 1>running thing. And uh in the manufacturers, yeah, they're yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>they're they're there. They can be kind of prices. I

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<v Speaker 1>think it's comparable to a tour running shoet. I think

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<v Speaker 1>they price up at about eighty dollars or something. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so that's one solution. Well, what's the difference between a

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<v Speaker 1>vibr and five finger do hicky and just running with socks?

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<v Speaker 1>You don't run outside in your sock feed, did you.

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<v Speaker 1>Your folks weren't into that either, and then that was

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<v Speaker 1>one of our rules. You walk outside in your sock feed,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't get wet. But what if you read outside

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<v Speaker 1>in socks with those little you know, the skitter things

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<v Speaker 1>on the bottom, you know, like they make kids socks

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<v Speaker 1>with those little still, you're gonna step in a puddle

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<v Speaker 1>or something and it's gonna be gross. But these, I

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<v Speaker 1>think the vibr and five fingers they're you know, like

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<v Speaker 1>they have some grip to them, but they're they're rubbery.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, they're not going to soak up a bunch

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<v Speaker 1>of gunk. Okay, all right, So then you could always

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<v Speaker 1>also run indoors, right, yeah, and that would cut out

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<v Speaker 1>some things. But I don't know, it's like we're talking

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<v Speaker 1>about you know, like there's a lot of athletes foot

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<v Speaker 1>in gyms. So right, so infections don't really respect the

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<v Speaker 1>indoor outdoor boundaries that we make for them. Well, of

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<v Speaker 1>course your last option is you could just take your

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<v Speaker 1>chances and run outside. Be damned. Uh. And you know,

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<v Speaker 1>as far as the hookworms are concerned, um, as they

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<v Speaker 1>go into on an episode of Radio Lab, there are

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<v Speaker 1>some people think these aren't that aren't that bad? Um.

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<v Speaker 1>This is based on the idea that or the observation

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<v Speaker 1>that asthma is less likely uh in someone that has hookworms,

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<v Speaker 1>and that that asthma and allergies aren't as common in

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<v Speaker 1>the developing world. UM, so many places you still have

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<v Speaker 1>you know, a lot of these sanitation issues. And the

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<v Speaker 1>argument is that that hookworms and humans have co evolved

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<v Speaker 1>over thousands of years. Uh and to the point where, um,

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<v Speaker 1>you have an individual that would be susceptible to asthma

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<v Speaker 1>or um um or allergies or any number of conditions

0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:58.720
<v Speaker 1>that are basically the immune system turning on itself, right

0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:02.600
<v Speaker 1>and in these people to hookworm. UM it manages to

0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.720
<v Speaker 1>keep those things in check almost like a symbiotic kind

0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:09.439
<v Speaker 1>of relationship. There's because there are arguments that like, if

0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:12.440
<v Speaker 1>you have like tin hookworms more or less, like that's

0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:15.280
<v Speaker 1>like a good Advocates are saying that's a good number

0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.120
<v Speaker 1>of hookworms to sort of keep your body in check.

0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.240
<v Speaker 1>But you're not. You get like fifty and you're getting

0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.240
<v Speaker 1>into into you're gonna become an emic. And that's where

0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:30.120
<v Speaker 1>we get the slow pale um. But that's we should

0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:33.600
<v Speaker 1>stress that's not an approved treatment. But but the one

0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:37.120
<v Speaker 1>guy that actually interviewed on Radio Lab, this guy Jasper

0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:41.840
<v Speaker 1>Lawrence of deranged dot com, he actually traveled down to

0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:47.400
<v Speaker 1>uh uh I think it was Cameroon and got himself

0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:50.200
<v Speaker 1>some hookworms. Yeah, got himself some hookworms, took a taxi

0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:52.600
<v Speaker 1>out to some latrine areas and marched around in his

0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:57.520
<v Speaker 1>bare feet and uh, last last I heard, he was

0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:02.680
<v Speaker 1>still selling his own hookworm um from his own feces

0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:07.880
<v Speaker 1>online to people who were interested in this uh again, uh,

0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:12.120
<v Speaker 1>non approved treatment. Thank you, Jasper for making that service available.

0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:14.240
<v Speaker 1>So I'm pretty sure I'm not going to go out

0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:16.560
<v Speaker 1>and buy some hook rooms. But this whole podcast did

0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:20.080
<v Speaker 1>make me think about um shoes and shoes and their

0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:22.640
<v Speaker 1>role and culture. Are you guys. The shoes off household,

0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:27.000
<v Speaker 1>um increasingly so, especially of course when it's when there's

0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:30.160
<v Speaker 1>snow and slush outside. But but I think after our

0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:33.199
<v Speaker 1>we traveled to Thailand in the fall, and they're very

0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:36.520
<v Speaker 1>much a shoes off culture, and are you know, very

0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:40.000
<v Speaker 1>big on also like things like don't point with your shoes, etcetera.

0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:44.440
<v Speaker 1>You go, you you fly on Thai airlines and you

0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:46.240
<v Speaker 1>have to put your shoes in a separate box than

0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:48.959
<v Speaker 1>your like pocket things, because to combine them into one

0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:52.600
<v Speaker 1>box would just be um grotesque, you know. And really,

0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:55.120
<v Speaker 1>I mean these are I mean, these are shoes. These

0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:57.640
<v Speaker 1>are things we walk around all over you know, the

0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.640
<v Speaker 1>subway with, or we we kill bugs. They're you know,

0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:02.839
<v Speaker 1>et cetera. They're they're kind of nasty, and you know,

0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.160
<v Speaker 1>maybe we should take them off at the at the

0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:07.240
<v Speaker 1>front door more often, or even in the office. I mean,

0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.040
<v Speaker 1>I'm wearing shoes right now. But yeah, we should have

0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:11.800
<v Speaker 1>a bin as soon as you walk in the office

0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:13.760
<v Speaker 1>where you check your shoes and people just walk around

0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.120
<v Speaker 1>and stocking feet all day, where everybody has their own slat.

0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:19.560
<v Speaker 1>Although what could happen as happened in Sex in the City,

0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.280
<v Speaker 1>is you could lose a sweet pair of shoes. On

0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:24.400
<v Speaker 1>the other hand, think about it. If you're not caring

0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:26.680
<v Speaker 1>about your shoes, then think about you know, your shoe

0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.720
<v Speaker 1>budget goes down, you're spending less money. Who cares, You're

0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:31.880
<v Speaker 1>just going to be cruising around and flip flops all

0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:34.640
<v Speaker 1>the time. So it does make me curious if like

0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:38.320
<v Speaker 1>extensive shoes or a thing in Thailand as well, I

0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:41.040
<v Speaker 1>don't have to look into that or you know, please

0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:43.800
<v Speaker 1>contact us. So if you'd like to learn more about

0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:47.480
<v Speaker 1>marathons or green marathons or even skin parasites, you can

0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.040
<v Speaker 1>head to our home page at how staff works dot com.

0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:51.840
<v Speaker 1>And while you're there, check out our blogs, where we

0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:54.280
<v Speaker 1>talk about all sorts of stuff, from you know, breaking

0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:57.720
<v Speaker 1>science news to whatever articles we happen to be researching

0:14:57.760 --> 0:14:59.680
<v Speaker 1>for the week. And if you want to tell us

0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.360
<v Speaker 1>about your adventures with parasites, are running or both, send

0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:04.440
<v Speaker 1>us an email at science stuff at how stuff works

0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:14.160
<v Speaker 1>dot com for more onness and thousands of other topics.

0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.240
<v Speaker 1>Is it how stuff works dot com. Want more how

0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.000
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0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:21.200
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