I just heard the weirdest story on "This American Life" on NPR. This guy had bad asthma and many allergies. Then he married a woman with three cats which only increased his symptoms. Then unwisely, he starts a landscaping service which increased his symptoms to the point where he couldn't tolerate his misery anymore. He goes to the Internet for help and finds this obscure information: People in Africa rarely have allergies, and it was believed it was due to --get this--they have hookworms.

THE FOLLOWING IS FROM THE SHOW; NOT FROM ME, OKAY?
Supposedly, having hookworms induces the body to ramp up the immune response etc. Modern societies are too clean and sterile; the body doesn't get the chance to be exposed to parasites which gears up the body response to allergens. So this guy decides to go to "The armpit of Africa" as he describes it; A part of Africa near the equator. The people living there use open latrines or just do it in the bushes. The guy decides he wants to get infested with hookworms to see if it'd help his allergies.

The guy hires a driver and they go to like 15 villages and he walks around barefoot in and around the latrines so he can get infected. He does, and says it cured his allergy/asthma symptoms. Back in the US, he gets the bright idea to "harvest" worms from his stool and sell them on the Internet so others can benefit from his experience. (Gag, throw up from me at this point.) He was doing a good business until the FDA shut him down.

In the deep south where I grew up, we went barefoot and had an outdoor pit toilet outhouse and every spring Mama had to get worm treatment medicine from the doctor (a horrible green concoction, dropped on a spoonful of sugar, that made us violently sick, followed hours later by a dose of castor oil.) I think this guy is loco to deliberately infect himself with hookworms; they are vile.
You know, you can get worms from your pet dog or cat if they aren't treated against them, or from people who cook with unclean hands, who wipe and don't wash.
I'd rather have asthma/allergies, thank you.

susil