Horrifying scan shows what could happen to your body when you undercook your pork sausages

You could end up with ‘rice grain’ bumps under your skin if you’re not careful

A scary scan that has been shared online shows the terrible consequences of eating sausages that aren’t cooked properly.

Everyone knows that eating chicken that isn’t cooked enough is really dangerous. It can lead to salmonella or food poisoning, along with other health problems.

You can eat beef if it’s a little undercooked, as long as it’s not completely raw. But what about pork?

It seems like there aren’t clear rules about how cooked pork should be, but most people agree that it definitely needs to be cooked, and that’s for a good reason.

5-year-old City fan destroys United supporter

You’ll want to make sure that these are well cooked (Getty Stock Photo)

Dr. Sam Ghali is an urgent care physician who graduated from the University of Florida. He is famous for teaching people about medical emergencies on social media, explaining what causes them and how to prevent them.

On Sunday (25 August) last week, the medical professional shared a horrifying image of a patient that had eaten contaminated meat, brought on by undercooked or raw pork, on X.

The scan shows that there are signs of a parasitic infection called cysticercosis. This happens when the larvae from a type of tapeworm get into tissues like muscles, and in the most serious cases, they can even reach the brain.

Dr Ghali explains: “It is caused by the ingestion of larval cysts of Taenia Solium, also known as Pork Tapeworm.”

These create tough, hardened cysts that feel like bumps beneath your skin. On medical scans, they strangely appear like little grains of rice spread throughout your body, and they are known as cysticerci.

Luckily, they are harmless, despite looking and feeling weird, as the larvae cannot survive outside the intestine.

But these cysts can serve up a problem if they start to develop in the brain.

The horrific scan reveals how many cysts can form if the tapeworm gets in. (X/EM_RESUS)

When cysts develop in the brain tissue itself, it’s called neurocysticercosis. This can cause symptoms like headaches, confusion, seizures, and other serious issues with the nervous system, as explained by Dr. Ghali.

The tapeworm that leads to this infection gets into the human body when people eat its eggs, which are often present in pork that hasn’t been cooked properly.

Adult tapeworms can grow in people’s intestines, and they turn into cysticercosis when infected individuals spread tapeworm eggs to one another through their feces.

He said that it’s really important to understand that you can only get the disease called cysticercosis if you eat these eggs through something like fecal-oral transmission.

In the next section, which Dr. Ghali calls ‘crazy’, he explains that when you eat the eggs, larvae come out and break through the intestinal wall. They then spread throughout your body, usually ending up in places like the brain, eyes, under the skin, and in the muscles.

This usually occurs when people don’t wash their hands well after using the bathroom, or when water is contaminated with poop.

When cysts get into the brain, they can make a person feel dizzy or even have seizures. They can also lead to a serious problem called fluid buildup in the brain, which might require surgery to take out the cysts.

Just cook your pork well, lads (Getty Stock Photo)

You might be surprised to learn that it’s actually pretty common. The World Health Organization says that in some areas, the larvae cysts of Taenia solium growing in the brain cause up to 70 percent of epilepsy cases.

Dr. Ghali mentioned that the outlook for cysticercosis is usually positive, but sadly, there are some cases that can be deadly. It’s believed that about 50 million people around the globe get infected every year, leading to roughly 50,000 deaths.

“So the moral of the story here is do your best to keep clean, always wash your hands, and never, ever eat raw or undercooked pork.”

There are several ways to treat this condition, such as using anti-parasitic medicine, steroids, anti-seizure drugs, and sometimes even surgery to take out the affected area.

Like he said though lads, just cook your pork and don’t cut corners.

Featured Image Credit: X/EM_RESUS and Getty Stock