1 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:16,479 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. And 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:18,319 Speaker 1: you know, Julie, we live in a we have a 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,479 Speaker 1: pretty good you know, we we have access to clean water. 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: We live in a relatively parasite free environment. I mean, 7 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: we all have it. We have our parasites. Um, they're 8 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: they're inevitable to a certain degree. But but but when 9 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:34,199 Speaker 1: you when you really started looking around at some of 10 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 1: the the problems that that are dealt with in some 11 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 1: of the more developing parts of the world, UM, it 12 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 1: really is a wake up call to just how thankful 13 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: we should be. Not to get to you know, Gucci here, 14 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 1: but but we are. In this episode, we're going to 15 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: talk about, um, something that is both on on one hand, 16 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: a very gross and a very fascinating organism, a parasitic 17 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: organism that is of interest just because it is an 18 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: organism that carries out it's uh, it's it's genetic mission 19 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 1: in a very peculiar and engaging way. It's a very 20 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:11,960 Speaker 1: stealthy parasite, very stealthy, and we can admire it's uh 21 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: it's purity, you know. But but on the other hand, 22 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: it is also a huge um world health issue. It is, 23 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: it is something that is of a great concern to 24 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,119 Speaker 1: organizations like the World Health Organization and particularly the Carter 25 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: Center based here in Atlanta, who we've been chatting with, 26 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: you especially, have been chatting with UH this week to 27 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: get geared up for this episode on river blindness. Yeah. 28 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,119 Speaker 1: I mean, usually we will talk about parasites, and as 29 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,680 Speaker 1: you say, we'll talk about them as as destructive forces, 30 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: but we don't always go into these um these larger 31 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: public health arenas. So I think it'll be really interesting 32 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: to today talk about um again. Like you say, the 33 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: parasite itself, but what sort of destruction actually happens when 34 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: a parasite really infiltrates a community. UM. So, we are 35 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: talking about something called oncos or hiasis. This is also 36 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: known as river blindness. It's a parasitic disease caused by 37 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: tiny worms or nematodes Uncle serica volvulus worm in particular, 38 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: and it is transmitted by flies, black fly specifically, which 39 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: are these nasty little things. When when I lived up 40 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: in Canada and Newfoundland as a kid, we had we 41 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: had black flies, and they were vicious like that. Like, yeah, 42 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: now I'm not certain it's exactly the same. You know, 43 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: maybe it's just a cousin of the black fly. But 44 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: but just the word black fly even now inspires itching 45 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: and slapping on my part. All right, so it kind 46 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: of strikes fear into your heart already. Um, well, imagine 47 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: if it was carrying this this parasite, um, and you 48 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,399 Speaker 1: were then infected by one of these bites. Yeah, And 49 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:45,959 Speaker 1: and the thing about when we're talking about one of 50 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: these bites, and certainly, like when I was in Canada 51 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: dealing with a black fly, you get a couple of bites. 52 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 1: But in some of these these these areas like Uganda 53 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 1: or or or certain parts of South America. Um, you're 54 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: talking about like bytes or more per hour when you're 55 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: out and about, right, So you're just getting bombarded with 56 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: these bites and then these these are infected bites. And 57 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: that's really key to the transmission as well. I mean, 58 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: you're you're not probably going to get this parasite unless 59 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: you get multiple, multiple bites here. But let's just talk 60 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,519 Speaker 1: about before we start talking about the Carter Center, we 61 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: talked about the parasite itself, let's talk a little bit 62 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: about the symptoms. Um we're talking about intense itching, Yeah, itching. 63 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: The accounts that I was reading and listening to about this, 64 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: we're talking a lot level of itching that most of 65 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: us can't really fathom, like like constant, NonStop, extreme itching 66 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: that that does not cease, can prevent, can can really 67 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: prevent sleeping, and and and and still insomnia for years 68 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: and uh. And it's not uncommon for people to commit 69 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: suicide to just just over the itching alone. Right. You've 70 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: got skin discoloration, of course, and you've got rashes, eye diseases, 71 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: and most notably this can lead to permanent blindness. And 72 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: we'll talk a little bit more about the blindness aspect 73 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: of this and how the worm accomplishes this. But as 74 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: you can already tell, this is UM an incredibly tormenting, 75 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: devastating disease, particularly if you are in one of these 76 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:21,679 Speaker 1: developing nations and you already are poverty stricken, are already 77 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:24,039 Speaker 1: dealing with a host of other issues just trying to 78 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: live your life on a day to day basis. Yeah, 79 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: and there are other particularly harmful diseases that are that 80 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: are often a problem in these areas as well. I 81 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: mean these are areas where we're dealing with HIV AIDS 82 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: in many cases, and there's a huge effort to to 83 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: tackle that public health concern, and it's in in the 84 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: past especially, it's been easy for stuff like river blindness 85 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,839 Speaker 1: to fall to the wayside. Another thing to keep in 86 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,840 Speaker 1: mind is that this tends to and you'll have communities 87 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:53,480 Speaker 1: where you have like ninety percent infection rate, like most 88 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 1: of the village, most of the community is infected with 89 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 1: this UH, with this organism and essentially have river blindness. 90 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,039 Speaker 1: But it's generally in your thirties and forties where it 91 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:07,360 Speaker 1: really becomes debilitating where you see blindness set in. So 92 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: it's taking people out during that what should be some 93 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: of the most active decades of their life. You have 94 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: so people that are otherwise you know, the of of 95 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: sound mind and body. But now that first they're robbed 96 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: of to a certain extent, their sanity by by the 97 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: this itching, this constant itching. They can't sleep constantly having 98 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: to deal with this, and then they're obbed to their 99 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: side as well well. They can't so then they can't 100 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: hold down a job right um, they can't take care 101 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,479 Speaker 1: of their children, they can't harvest crops, um, you know, 102 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: they can't receive an education, so it's basically stripping them 103 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: of their livelihoods and compounding these cycles of poverty for generations. Um. 104 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: So yeah, there's a huge economic impact here. We're talking 105 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,359 Speaker 1: about it affecting eighteen million people around the world with 106 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,239 Speaker 1: the cases in Africa, and it is the leading cause 107 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:57,720 Speaker 1: of preventable blindness in the world and is endemic to 108 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: thirty seven countries in Africa and in Latin America. All Right, 109 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: so let's uh, let's talk about this disease cycle that 110 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: happens this with this parasite and how it's being um 111 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 1: carried around and the mandibles of these black flies. Yeah, 112 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:14,799 Speaker 1: I guess we'll start with the black flies. They're flying 113 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: around there and they're they're carrying uh this uh this 114 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: infection the larva. Right, so yeah, let's set the scene here, 115 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 1: and we were talking about swiftly flowing rivers and streams. Yeah, 116 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: which is which that alone through me when I was 117 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: first looking into this, because you you know, when you're 118 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 1: dealing with stagnant waters are still waters, there's always this 119 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: potential for for something horrible to brew there. But but 120 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: fast flowing, clean waters and that's that should be safe, right, 121 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: Well not. So you have the black fly that's infected 122 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: by the larva, all right, it's got it in its mandibles, 123 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: and the black fly seeks out prey. It wants to 124 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: feed on some blood. So it finds these various villages 125 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 1: who are hanging out around the water, bathing in the water, 126 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,159 Speaker 1: collecting drinking water. I mean, this is the sin of 127 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: their life. So they're there. There's no avoiding contact with 128 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: the water. Other community is often you know, adjacent to 129 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: the water. So black fly bites you and then you 130 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: get the larva in your skin, yes, and and then 131 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: things begin to proliferate. Yep, that's right. So the parasite 132 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: is entering through that the skin that's been pierced by 133 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: the fly, and they migrate inform nodules and the skin 134 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: and then they mature. Yeah, basically they were talking about nodules. 135 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: We're talking about like little little spheres in the skin, 136 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: like little round colonies, little it's almost like the nodules 137 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: of your spine that you can feel in your back. Right. 138 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: This this is something that's going to become that apparent 139 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: on your skin when you see that kind of bump 140 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: um forming. Yeah, they look like little like little tumors 141 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: or little just little balloons of worms basically, and these 142 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: things reproducing an astonishing rate and and a really long 143 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: lived like you tend not to think of things like 144 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: a nematode living for nine twelve upwards of you know, 145 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: over twelve years up to fifteen years of life in 146 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: this worm that is living inside of this tiny little 147 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: round the globe in your skin. Yeah, I mean, I 148 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: kind of think of it as like tense city, Like 149 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: your body becomes tense city for them. These nodules are 150 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: these places that they migrate back and forth too, because 151 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,239 Speaker 1: they are either moving back and forth to join other worms, 152 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: are mating with other worms. So there's all this activity 153 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: going on um in your body, and of course that's 154 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:33,959 Speaker 1: why you're getting some of these horrible symptoms. These worms 155 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: are mating, uh in they're they're laying eggs. Said A 156 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 1: thousand larvae a day. Yeah, these, Yeah, a thousand of 157 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: these microfilarre per day are being laid inside your skin. 158 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,679 Speaker 1: So it just it's it's exponential, It just it just 159 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: builds up like crazy. So the body progressively it becomes 160 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: more and more ravaged by this. You have these uh, 161 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: these non nodules are popping up everywhere. They're they're they're itching, 162 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: and then if it spreads to your eyes, that's where 163 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: you encounter some real problems. Yeah. Okay, so, and that 164 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: sounds weird because you think about a worm, you probably 165 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: are thinking about a nerveform or something along those lines. 166 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: Are not thinking about a worm. That is the size 167 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: of the period at the end of a sentence. But 168 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: the fact of the matter is that's the size of 169 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,439 Speaker 1: these horms and they can travel to the eye where 170 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: they create severe lesions and this is what it can 171 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: lead to blindness. Um. So that is a huge concern obviously, 172 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: because again this is debilitating for the person. And the 173 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: idea is that you want to try to get or 174 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,079 Speaker 1: intervene with medication before this happens. And we'll talk a 175 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: little bit more about the medication later. Um, but let's 176 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 1: talk about when you are infected. You you are the 177 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:44,199 Speaker 1: host that's infected. You are then contributing to the rest 178 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: of the life cycle of this parasite because you're infected, 179 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: you're bitten again, and then another fly becomes infected with 180 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: the larvae from your body in the cycle just continue. Yeah, 181 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: you're like a resupply camp. You know, we talked about 182 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: parasitic life cycles before and and that's generally how it goes. 183 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: The organism is not living its entire life cycle inside 184 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: your body. You are just a stopover in the same 185 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: way that a human will occupy won't occupy a single 186 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: job that their entire life, or live in one house 187 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: for an entire life. You know, it's it's it's a cycle, 188 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: except the cycle in this case always comes back around 189 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 1: at the same place. Yeah. That reminds me of when 190 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: we did an episode on toxoplasmosis and how it uses 191 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,200 Speaker 1: rats and cats to continue its life cycle and even 192 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: changes the behavior of those those animals and perhaps even people, 193 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 1: which makes me think about this parasite and how it 194 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 1: also can change the body's immune response. It can tinker 195 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: with how things are working inside of us. And you're 196 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: talking for us about the Wallbachia bacteria. Yeah, yeah, so okay, 197 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,719 Speaker 1: this this worm is not a single parasite or a 198 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: single organism parasite. It actually contains the Wolbachia bacteria, which 199 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,199 Speaker 1: is in and of itself unusual. But the reason him 200 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,319 Speaker 1: why that bacteria is hitching a ride with Anco sacs 201 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 1: um psarchiasis is because it actually does a job for 202 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 1: that worm. Um. What happens is that when it infiltrates 203 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: the human body, and our white blood cells go, oh, 204 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 1: there's there's something going on here. Um. Those white blood cells, 205 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:23,560 Speaker 1: specifically neutrophiles, which are specialized white blood cells. They surround 206 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: the the infection point. But what happens here is that 207 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:31,679 Speaker 1: that bacteria has already created a ring around the worm 208 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: and is basically cloaking that worm from the white blood cells. 209 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:38,440 Speaker 1: So the white blood cells a cloaking device, the bacterial 210 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: cloaking device used by the bacteria to infiltrate our bodies 211 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: defense systems. Yeah. Yeah, So the white blood cells are 212 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:49,839 Speaker 1: then creating another ring around the bacterial ring and trying 213 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: to attack that. But it's specialized, right, so it can't 214 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:54,960 Speaker 1: actually attack the worm itself. It can't even get to 215 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:58,440 Speaker 1: the worm. Um. And then you have something called eosinophiles, 216 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: and this sort of like the cleanup crew of our body. 217 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: This is another type of white blood cell, and it 218 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: usually could get to the worm and take it out. Okay, 219 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: it's like, um, it's sort of like the crime scene 220 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 1: clean up white blood cell of our body. But again 221 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: because it's got the double ring around it. Now it 222 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 1: can't get through the other white blood cells, it can't 223 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,839 Speaker 1: get through the bacteria. It's not going to make its 224 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:26,199 Speaker 1: way to the worm. Which is amazing because what it's 225 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 1: doing is it's gaming our immune system. This parasite. Yeah, 226 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,600 Speaker 1: it's like it's throwing up some some interference. It's like 227 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,559 Speaker 1: some sort of like a bank haist kind of a flick. 228 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: It's it's like coming to mind, you know where where 229 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: it's like the bank haist itself is just distraction. And 230 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: then the the the guy who can say today can't 231 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: get in to stop the bad guy because the police 232 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,439 Speaker 1: response is surrounding the building. Uh. Kind of some more 233 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: thing going on here with the with with with our 234 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,319 Speaker 1: nemesis here or misdirection like we talked about with magicians 235 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: what they do to our brains to try to get 236 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: us to focus on something else. Um. So this is 237 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: how amazing this parasite is and and also how detrimental, 238 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 1: as you can see, it can be because it's just 239 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:11,559 Speaker 1: playing havoc with your body. Um. And we're gonna talk 240 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 1: about the ways in which it has been combated and 241 00:13:14,559 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: want to take a quick break, Yeah, we'll take you 242 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: a quick break, and when we come back we will 243 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: talk about how we're actually fighting this thing and and 244 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 1: really thanks to uh, to the Carter Center and in 245 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: other efforts, were actually defeating the thing. All Right, we're 246 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: back in reading about anco psarchiusis it also happens to 247 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 1: fall in the same week where I'm I'm reading a 248 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: lot about the xeno morph from Aliens, which also has 249 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: a parasitic a fictional parasitic life cycle. And of course 250 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: there's a there's a place, there's a part in the 251 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:51,600 Speaker 1: original film Alien where they're asking the android ash Um, 252 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:53,719 Speaker 1: how do we defeat it? How do we defeat this, uh, 253 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: this organism? And he tells them you can't. So there's 254 00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:59,680 Speaker 1: there's no way you're gonna be able to kill it. Uh. 255 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: He just tells them, you know, you have my sympathies, 256 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 1: symp sympathies. And the interesting thing about uncle siasis is 257 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:09,839 Speaker 1: when we attempt to fight it, killing it is not 258 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:13,840 Speaker 1: really an option on the table. Is so our our 259 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: means of defeating it is not going in there and 260 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: wiping it out, rather waiting it out and keeping it 261 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: from reproducing. That's right. So we're trying to control it 262 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: and we're trying to um to lessen the symptoms, and 263 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: so the disease is really just treated here. Um, it's 264 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: as you say, it's not eradicable at least at this point. 265 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 1: So that is done through something called ibra mactin, which 266 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: is an oral medicine. And this is part um. This 267 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: is really part of this, really the great part of 268 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: this story which involves Carter Center and involves Murk. Yeah, 269 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: I mean the parasite blinding people not the great part, no, No, 270 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: but the things that we're doing to to to curb 271 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:57,880 Speaker 1: it and to control it and to and to address 272 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 1: the public health side of it is amazing and pretty 273 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: pretty much just an awesome story for everybody involved. Yeah. 274 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: So in n this is the only part of the 275 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: story here, Murk and company pledge donate mecdicine, which is 276 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: ib macdin, for as long as necessary to all people 277 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: affected by the disease and endemic countries. This is a 278 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: huge deal, right. Yeah, say what you will about the 279 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 1: large pharmaceutical companies, but this is just there is an 280 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: example of of of a company doing the right thing 281 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: here and just just putting public health above all else. Yeah. 282 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: And when we're talking, um, just so everybody gets an 283 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: idea of the scope of this. Since two thousand and ten, 284 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: more than one hundred and fifty million medicine treatments have 285 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: been distributed, and presumably many more until this is, you know, 286 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: completely managed to the point to zero where there's zero 287 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: infections across the world. And to put that the number 288 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: of treatments in perspective to this is not something you 289 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: take every day. This is something you take annually. So 290 00:15:55,680 --> 00:16:00,280 Speaker 1: you'll you'll dose up on medicine once a year, but 291 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: you'll do it for about fifteen years because the idea 292 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: is that every year you want to pump the stuff 293 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: in there, keep the females from reproducing, the females that 294 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: are already living inside your body, keep them from reproducing 295 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: for their entire life cycle. And again, these things live 296 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,080 Speaker 1: nine twelve m generally that the estimate I was saying 297 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: was like nine to twelve years, call it fifteen and 298 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 1: you're safe, right, Um, Basically, you want to wait it out, 299 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: don't let it reproduce for the rest of its life, 300 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: and then at the end of fifteen years, nothing else 301 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: has been new has been born. You'll be clean. Yeah. Yeah, 302 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 1: So again, you know, Mark has pledged to you know, 303 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:39,640 Speaker 1: indemic countries to help keep this under control. The pill 304 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 1: does kill immature worms in the body, and if they 305 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: can't reproduce in the human body, we defeat it ultimately 306 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: exactly because it breaks that cycle. Right. So if you 307 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: get you know bit again and you know, anyway, the transmission, 308 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: what we're talking about here is interruption and elimination, and 309 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 1: we'll talk a little bit more about that. But um, 310 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: but macdisene is is great. It relieves itching and in 311 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,200 Speaker 1: whose vision and prevents blindness. UM. So hopefully you can 312 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: get in there at the right time to help prevent 313 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:07,480 Speaker 1: that blindness because essentially, what you're doing is you're giving 314 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: uh people their lives back, because if you can't work, 315 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 1: if you can't take care of yourself, if you are 316 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: in a family that has already stretched to live you 317 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: know again, day to day living here, um, then most 318 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,119 Speaker 1: likely you're going to be kind of put to the wayside. 319 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 1: And for years some people have been living outside of 320 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:28,159 Speaker 1: their communities because they just don't have the resources to 321 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 1: take care of people who um have river blindness. UM. 322 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:34,679 Speaker 1: So anyway, this really is sort of a life giving 323 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:38,439 Speaker 1: drug and a development that happened in conjunction with the 324 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,679 Speaker 1: Carter Center. So let's talk about the Carter Center, um, 325 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 1: real quickly. These guys are a leader in disease eradication 326 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:49,680 Speaker 1: and elimination. They target diseases that no one knew um 327 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 1: or did little or nothing about before the diseases like 328 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 1: something like river blindness were even recognized as a neglected disease. 329 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,679 Speaker 1: And they've been doing this since the eighties. Uh, so 330 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:02,280 Speaker 1: they are out there on the front field. But not 331 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 1: only that, they work like in tandem with the countries 332 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: and the program administrators, um, you know, the community based volunteers. 333 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,159 Speaker 1: And this is a huge effort because not just like hey, 334 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:16,280 Speaker 1: we're this one organization and we're gonna bring this down 335 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 1: on high. Everybody can have this. I mean this takes 336 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: a huge UM commitment first of all, and the second 337 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:28,320 Speaker 1: well cooperation um different countries, um, you know, different levels 338 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:31,720 Speaker 1: of government to get this. You know, going yeah and 339 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:33,679 Speaker 1: think because once you get it going to where it's 340 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: such a long term process. You're talking because again you're 341 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:40,439 Speaker 1: talking about uh supplying this to two communities for a 342 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: period of fifteen years, and you need everybody to take 343 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,360 Speaker 1: it because because again these communities are dealing you're dealing 344 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:50,439 Speaker 1: with like infection. Right, So it's like everybody so and 345 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 1: everybody has to take it because if if only some 346 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:56,640 Speaker 1: people take this medication, if some are abstaining because of 347 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,239 Speaker 1: of real or perceived side effects to taking it or 348 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: some sort of I read some stuff too about you know, 349 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: at times there have been like fears that oh, it 350 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 1: will make me sterile, or or concerns that more traditional 351 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:13,280 Speaker 1: medical practices in a culture would treat would be actually 352 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:16,439 Speaker 1: be better at treating this condition than outsider medicine. So 353 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 1: you have to do a lot of real education and 354 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,880 Speaker 1: re education UM and keep that up for fifteen years 355 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: as well. So it's a it's a huge commitment. And 356 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: uh and the fact that the Carter Center has been 357 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 1: so proactive and it is really amazing. Yeah, And I 358 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: think one of the keys UM in learning about the program, 359 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,360 Speaker 1: particularly the river blind this program UM that that they do. 360 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 1: It's not just okay, here's a strug from an outsider. 361 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 1: What they really have done is they've allowed these countries 362 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,919 Speaker 1: and these communities and these different levels of government to 363 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,399 Speaker 1: take this on this the education programs and UM the 364 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,720 Speaker 1: medication on themselves and distribute it to the communities that 365 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 1: need it to the people that need it, so that 366 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: people are understanding it as not an outsider agenda, but 367 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:03,400 Speaker 1: as an agenda that is important um inside the community. 368 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:05,679 Speaker 1: And so I think that has gotten everybody on board. 369 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 1: So in that sense, you know, the CAR Center is 370 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:13,679 Speaker 1: also helping them that you know, those communities to help themselves. UM. 371 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: So that's really important. You've got the education component, you've 372 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: got the medicine component, and you have the vector control. Right, 373 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: so there's also spring that goes on. Yeah, So medicating 374 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: UM infected individuals just one part of it. We also 375 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: are getting in there with anti larval um like larval 376 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 1: sides actually that that put in the water. Well, first 377 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: of all, figure out what portions of a river are 378 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: really prime activity, So they'll go in, they'll they'll look 379 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,159 Speaker 1: at the rate of the water flowing through there, like 380 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 1: measure it with like little propeller gadgets. And then once 381 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:50,360 Speaker 1: they figure out the areas to treat, treat it with 382 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:55,639 Speaker 1: this environmentally friendly anti larval yeah yeah, and then that 383 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:57,800 Speaker 1: that will attempt to kill it off. And then you know, 384 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,920 Speaker 1: you'll look at how the larval populations have dropped off 385 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: in those areas, like like looking at typically these larva 386 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: will end up crawling all over like the crabs that 387 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,159 Speaker 1: live in there in the water. Pull out the crabs, 388 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:12,119 Speaker 1: examine the crabs and uh. And we're seeing some of 389 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:16,800 Speaker 1: these areas that were previously hotbeds for the larval infestations 390 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:20,200 Speaker 1: that it's just just not there anymore. Yeah. So yeah, 391 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: cutting down, medicating people, cutting down on where it grows. 392 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:26,960 Speaker 1: Um also just a lot of things like making sure 393 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: people were wearing more clothes in areas where they're exposed 394 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 1: to the black flies, protective clothing, protective gear. Uh. Just 395 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:38,400 Speaker 1: sort of any little additional, seemingly petty advantage you can 396 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: take can make a huge difference when you add everything up. Yeah. 397 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 1: And UM, I wanted to touch on elimination versus interrupted 398 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,199 Speaker 1: transmission too, because these are two different terms obviously that 399 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: mean very different things. UM. So for for interrupted transmissions, 400 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,120 Speaker 1: but this has been happening with a lot of um, 401 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,680 Speaker 1: the different countries that the car Center is involved with. UM. 402 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 1: This interrupted transmission basically happens when treatment coverage of an 403 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 1: area UH is attained and there are no new incidences. 404 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 1: Elimination is a term that that you cannot actually use 405 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: until an area or a country has maintained no new 406 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: cases during a three year period called the surveillance period, 407 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: and that's zero infections, and that's when you know that 408 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,200 Speaker 1: that is eliminated. Of course, World Health Organization is also 409 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: involved in UM in terming the country or an area 410 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:36,159 Speaker 1: eliminated of this disease. But I guess with the larger 411 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 1: story here is that this is a huge wind for 412 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:43,680 Speaker 1: these countries and for these areas. Colombia has interrupted transmission 413 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:47,399 Speaker 1: UM and has gone three years without any new cases 414 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: and it's waiting to be certified as eliminated. Ecuador, which 415 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,439 Speaker 1: is another area that the Carter Center is focusing on, 416 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 1: has interrupted transmission, has also gone nearly three years without 417 00:22:57,040 --> 00:22:59,720 Speaker 1: any new cases and is also being prepared to be 418 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: sort of fight is eliminated. Mexico and Guatemala have interrupted 419 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:07,240 Speaker 1: transmission and they are in their surveillance period now. Venezuela 420 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: and Brazil still have endemic areas UH, most notably the 421 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,680 Speaker 1: area that crosses their shared border. Sort of makes sense, 422 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:18,960 Speaker 1: right UM. And then the Carter Center assists five African 423 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 1: countries where they've interrupted transmission in some areas but not 424 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,480 Speaker 1: entire countries. A little bit more complex UM. Some countries 425 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,639 Speaker 1: have elected to go from nationwide elimination or to go 426 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,480 Speaker 1: for nationwide elimination, and others have not. And I think 427 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: that is important, UM, that that aspect right there, that 428 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 1: you have to have the country on board with us 429 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,680 Speaker 1: as well or the area on board with us to 430 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:42,480 Speaker 1: really decide, Hey, are we gonna as a community go 431 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,760 Speaker 1: for complete elimination. Yea. So now one of the big 432 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 1: challenges is just keeping the fight going, just continuing to 433 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,480 Speaker 1: to keep it in people's minds. This is an issue 434 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:53,800 Speaker 1: that we need to continue to to fight, to u 435 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 1: to eradicate, continue to treat, and just not let the 436 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,399 Speaker 1: guard down until UM, until it's it's adequately dealt with 437 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: in the all of these affected areas. Yeah, because as 438 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 1: you said before, like to stop that disease cycle, you 439 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,840 Speaker 1: have to have at least eighty of eligible people in 440 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,439 Speaker 1: the endemic area taking the medicine each year until the 441 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:15,119 Speaker 1: parasite disappears. And I read I believe it was in 442 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 1: Guatemala Um. I may be wrong on that location, but 443 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,880 Speaker 1: in the Carter Center they were talking about the Carter 444 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: Center website, they have this great story about how they're 445 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:28,520 Speaker 1: trying to really keep the education component of this UM 446 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 1: in people's minds for for all generations. And they were 447 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,840 Speaker 1: talking about school aged kids who in their courtyard have 448 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: um black fly pinatas and that's again part of the 449 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 1: conversation of keeping it in their minds. If this is 450 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: a very real danger, this is something that we need 451 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: to think about so that those generations will continue to 452 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:54,320 Speaker 1: part of the culture. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely, um. And 453 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: I should also mention too that there is um and 454 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:03,159 Speaker 1: independently produced film called Dark Forest Black Fly that is 455 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:05,440 Speaker 1: tracking the efforts of the Carter Center and its partners 456 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,879 Speaker 1: to wipe out river blindness in Uganda, and that should 457 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,120 Speaker 1: be out later this year. But you can check out 458 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 1: a clip on the Carter Center's website. Yeah, do you do. 459 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:15,879 Speaker 1: Go to the Carter Center's website. You can just do 460 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 1: a Google search for Carter Center. If you want to 461 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:22,679 Speaker 1: be a little more specific, do Carter Center River Blindness, 462 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:24,440 Speaker 1: or just do a search for river blindness and you'll 463 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: find the Carter Centers website on this you also visiting 464 00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:32,479 Speaker 1: that website, you'll find an easy way to donate if 465 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 1: you would like to donate to to that particular cause. 466 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 1: It's a great cause and I highly recommend supporting it. 467 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: And uh oh and also if you want, if you're 468 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,120 Speaker 1: just a little more curious about the organism itself, well, 469 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:48,199 Speaker 1: they have plenty of information about it, but the results. 470 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,159 Speaker 1: There's also a little discovery show that came out a 471 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 1: couple of years ago called Monsters Inside Me. And if 472 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:58,679 Speaker 1: you're just fascinated by grotesque, harmful parasites, um, this is 473 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,359 Speaker 1: the show for you. It's it's it's it's kind of 474 00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 1: a disturbing and dark show. It's a documentary but with 475 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 1: a lot of dramatized scenes of individuals encountering parasites, becoming 476 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: infected by parasit. It's all based on unreal stories. But 477 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,119 Speaker 1: they have a segment in one of the episodes it 478 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,359 Speaker 1: deals with with river blindness. Um. What has to do 479 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:24,200 Speaker 1: with an American chimpanzee Um? Yeah, and um specialist who 480 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:26,920 Speaker 1: comes back to the States infected and has to deal 481 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,399 Speaker 1: with the ramifications. But but check that out if you're 482 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:34,080 Speaker 1: you're interesting in learning just more about the the strangeness 483 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,040 Speaker 1: of this creature. Yeah, and I hope you guys enjoyed 484 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,520 Speaker 1: learning about this. More of the Carter Center part of this, 485 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:42,960 Speaker 1: and not just the Carter Center part, but the sort 486 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 1: of humanitarian efforts that are going on. We can often 487 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 1: we talk about parasites who talk about how deadly they 488 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,440 Speaker 1: are or how fascinating they are. But this is so 489 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:55,320 Speaker 1: incredible to know or to remember that there's this whole 490 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,520 Speaker 1: shadow effort and it's not even really shadow, but it's 491 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:00,400 Speaker 1: not something that we don't talked about all the time. 492 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: There's a huge effort going on to to help people 493 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 1: and to um to get them educated, in to to 494 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,879 Speaker 1: get that sort of health care that they need, and 495 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,679 Speaker 1: to stop the cycles of this that are making a 496 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: huge difference in their quality of life. So it's pretty 497 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: cool stuff. All right, Well, let's call the ropeot over 498 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:19,200 Speaker 1: here and do a couple of listener mails before we 499 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:23,399 Speaker 1: sign out. First of all, I want to say that 500 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:27,439 Speaker 1: we heard from Adam again UM, the Chief Happiness Officer 501 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,400 Speaker 1: who's traveling around the world and sentis the cool hats, 502 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: which we still need to get a photo of. I 503 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,560 Speaker 1: know one of these days, like this week is blown 504 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:38,679 Speaker 1: by UM. But anyway, he wrote in to tell us 505 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 1: what he was up to now. He was in Hope, 506 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,880 Speaker 1: Hi men City. Uh and he also managed to pick 507 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 1: up and he sent some pictures of the money. But 508 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 1: he also says also Robert, I suppose this is the 509 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 1: Asian red Bull that you talked about many times in 510 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: the show. It was available here in Singapore. I didn't 511 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,439 Speaker 1: try it and included a picture of it. Uh. We 512 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,920 Speaker 1: had a listeners in a picture of this this beverage 513 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:01,280 Speaker 1: in before and it's hard for me to place because 514 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,280 Speaker 1: it looks like it's in cans now. And when I 515 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:08,160 Speaker 1: had it a few years ago in um Um in Thailand, 516 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:10,919 Speaker 1: it was it was in like a little medicine looking bottle, 517 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 1: but but it was a red bluel product and it 518 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 1: was like really crazy intense. So I've I've yeah, So 519 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:20,440 Speaker 1: I put the call out. It's like for any of 520 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: our listeners who are traveling through East Asia or live 521 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,640 Speaker 1: in East Asia, uh, to to give me their feedback 522 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,920 Speaker 1: on it and see if it's really such a a 523 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:35,520 Speaker 1: such such an intense beverage compared to its American counterpart um. 524 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: And by intense, it feels as though it alters your 525 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: reality a little bit. Yeah, I just, I mean, it's 526 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 1: like like it just felt like an enormous amount of energy, 527 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:49,479 Speaker 1: Like it was like multiple shots of espresso or or 528 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: B twelve or something just really charging and sweeter somehow too. 529 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,720 Speaker 1: We also heard from a listener by the name of 530 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: Robert Roberts and it says Robert, Julie and Company. Uh, 531 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 1: he's refining responding to our episode on fiction and reality, 532 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,840 Speaker 1: he says The famed comic writer Alan Moore's recent work 533 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 1: has frequently centered around an investigation of the power of 534 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 1: fictional reality, has discussed in your recent Fiction Reality Secret 535 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: Master podcast. His Prometheo graphic novel UH novels are clearly 536 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 1: a simplified exploration of the power of myth and symbolism 537 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 1: on the human experience. But even more relevant is this amazing, spooky, 538 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: bizarre spoken word performance Snakes and Ladders, which ties in 539 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:30,640 Speaker 1: the biblical serpent, the discovery of DNA and obscure writer 540 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 1: author Makin's mourning over the loss of his wife into 541 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,320 Speaker 1: a beautiful exploration of where ideas come from and what 542 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: impact they can have on us. It's quite a dense performance, 543 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:44,240 Speaker 1: and some of the more complicated elements elude me. Eluded 544 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: me until I read the illustrated adaptation, but it's really 545 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 1: worth investigating. Thanks for your continued excellent work in the 546 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 1: field of thought provoking podcasts. Um Yeah, Alan Moore is awesome. 547 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:56,960 Speaker 1: I encouraged anyone to chuck at his stuff. I actually 548 00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: actually have not read or listened to the titles he 549 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,560 Speaker 1: mentioned here, and familiar with Promethea I was. I was 550 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 1: actually reading a little about it the other day. That's 551 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:09,760 Speaker 1: the one where we get the weeping gorilla from just 552 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: like a weeping gorilla that shows up and he's, uh, 553 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,760 Speaker 1: he's always been moaning something like I can't get good. 554 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: I thought you men about the weeping girl in the office. No, 555 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:22,320 Speaker 1: no one, no, Well, if you see a weeping girl 556 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: in the office, and it's probably um some sort of 557 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 1: crossover from fiction into reality via the metaphysics of Promethea 558 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 1: um as for snakes and ladders. I don't think I 559 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: actually heard of this one before, though I have read 560 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: some of the fiction of author mockin Um. Unless I 561 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:40,720 Speaker 1: have my name's crossed the belief he's the guy who 562 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: wrote he wrote the Wind to Go and some really 563 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: weird No, maybe he didn't write When to Go. I 564 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: think he wrote I think you wrote some weird stories 565 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 1: about Pan, like uh, like sort of early weird tales. 566 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,160 Speaker 1: But but at the center of this is is Pan 567 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: the the half man, half man, and have goat, and 568 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,720 Speaker 1: he's depicted in a very very interesting manner, like a 569 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:09,640 Speaker 1: dangerous manner. But it's it's really powerful stuff assuming and 570 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:13,800 Speaker 1: I didn't screw up my names there. But anyway, thanks UH, Robert. 571 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,880 Speaker 1: We always love to hear from people on the podcast 572 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: and also about other bits of media Italian and what 573 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,280 Speaker 1: we're talking about. And finally we heard from Summer in 574 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 1: Salt Lake City, Utah. Summer rights in and UH. She's 575 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 1: responding to our discussion of how stuff works versus HSW. 576 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,640 Speaker 1: She brought this up because we mentioned on the podcast 577 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 1: in the past that that even though we say how 578 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:42,680 Speaker 1: stuff works, when we go to UH to refer to 579 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:45,920 Speaker 1: the website or website properties and internal emails will often 580 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: put down UH, it just put on h SW to 581 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: simplify things, just three letters. But when you start looking 582 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:56,680 Speaker 1: at the syllables how stuff works, that's three syllables, H 583 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: s W, that's five syllables, we end up say saying 584 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 1: hs W though, because we're used to abbreviate it on 585 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:07,480 Speaker 1: reviating it on paper, so we up abbreviating it in 586 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: our speech. And so she says, I would like to 587 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 1: offer solution that was adopted at the place where I 588 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 1: was employed through college. Kennis Warehouse is much longer and 589 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,200 Speaker 1: more drawn out than t W when written, but they 590 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,520 Speaker 1: are the same number of syllables when spoken. Being college students, 591 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:25,880 Speaker 1: either options seemed to require way too much energy to 592 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 1: say over and over, so we instead pronounced it t dub. 593 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:33,240 Speaker 1: It only solves the too many syllable in the letter 594 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: W problem, but it also makes everyone feel slightly more 595 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 1: street smart. So he recommendation would be for us to 596 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:43,440 Speaker 1: go with hs dub. Okay, so H s W with 597 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:45,640 Speaker 1: a four, right, then we can short g it back 598 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:50,400 Speaker 1: to three. It just all right, we need to send it. 599 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: We need to send a memo out today. Well, I 600 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:53,880 Speaker 1: think we would have to. We'd probably have to get 601 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: rid of that S and we just change it to 602 00:32:55,440 --> 00:33:00,520 Speaker 1: H dub or h W. I don't know, something, once 603 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:02,400 Speaker 1: you start down that road, it's a slippery slip. I 604 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,640 Speaker 1: understand I'm thinking of this. I don't know. I'm a traditionalist. 605 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,200 Speaker 1: I'm like an hs dub hs stub. All right, Well, 606 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: we'll give it a trial weekend. We'll see how it goes. 607 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:13,240 Speaker 1: All right, Well, if you would like to talk about 608 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:18,000 Speaker 1: anything with us, be at abbreviations and UH be at 609 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:22,760 Speaker 1: river blindness and its effects on the world. Other interesting parasites, 610 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:26,720 Speaker 1: parasitic lifestyles, lifestyles, parasitical life cycles, not so much the 611 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 1: life stuff, but that's another podcast. Yeah. Yeah, if you 612 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:33,320 Speaker 1: have a parasitic lifestyle, let us know about that. We'd 613 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: be interested to know what that can to the stuff. 614 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:38,440 Speaker 1: And do you have the Bolbock bacteria? Yeah? And how 615 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:41,320 Speaker 1: is that working out? So? You can find us on 616 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:43,520 Speaker 1: Facebook and you can find us on Twitter. On Facebook, 617 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:45,360 Speaker 1: we are Stuff to Blow your Mind. On Twitter, our 618 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,200 Speaker 1: handle is blow the Mind. Look us up there, friend us, 619 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,800 Speaker 1: follow us, interact with us, share stuff with us. Um, 620 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,200 Speaker 1: anything's on the table. Yeah, and do make sure to 621 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 1: check out the Carter Center's website. UM. River Blindness is 622 00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,880 Speaker 1: just one of the many programs UM, but they work 623 00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 1: on and uh please do feel free to send us 624 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:10,560 Speaker 1: an email at Blow the Mind at Discovery dot com. 625 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,160 Speaker 1: Be sure to check out our new video podcast, Stuff 626 00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:15,839 Speaker 1: from the Future. Join How Stuff Work staff as we 627 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:21,279 Speaker 1: explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. M H.