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Each proglottid constitutes a self-contained (hermaphroditic) reproductive organ holding up to 100,000 eggs.

A tapeworm reproduces by detaching these sections from its tail, so that the eggs can find their way out of your body and into a new host.Continue Article Doctors have described several other symptoms that go along with tapeworm infection in rare cases.

Some patients develop headaches, convulsions, or skin rashes.

Others actually do see an increase in appetite, just like Glen "Big Baby" Davis.

Few comprehensive studies of these unusual symptoms have been completed, and parasitologists don't have a good sense of how prevalent these side effects are.We do know that some kinds of parasites—like the "pork tapeworm"—can lay their eggs inside your body.

This can cause much more serious complications, as the eggs embed themselves in bodily organs and cause cysts in your liver, lungs, or brain.Got a question about today's news?

Ask the Explainer.Explainer thanks Peter Schantz of the Centers for Disease Control.Related in SlateJosh Levin might have won $10,000 betting on LSU's hungry Tigers, if only he'd had a little more faith.

He also reviewed Slither, a new movie about killer slugs.

Atul Gawande argued that it's perfectly safe to irradiate food in order to kill off tapeworms...

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