Seriously, you can be minding your own business and an amoeba can eat your brain?
Yep, we're not making this up. There are indeed brain-eating amoebas out there, called naegleria fowleri by more scholarly types. They've killed a number of folks; at least
of n. fowleri infection.
Is there reason to panic? Well, here at Cranky Fitness we always advocate panic, just on general principle. (We had some great reasons, for example, to panic over the
. Remember that?)
But as much as we always enjoy inciting a good panic attack, perhaps you'd like some more practical information on brain-eating amoebas, like where they lurk, and how to avoid having them eat your brain?
So here are the most important things you need to know about brain-eating amoebas.
Where can I find a more reputable source of information on naegleria fowleri, aka, Brain-Eating Amoebas?
Well, one place to start is the Web MD FAQ on
brain-eating amoebas. In fact, it’s where most of the information in this blog post is swiped from! The CDC also has a
naegleria fowleri FAQ.
What are Amoebas and How the Hell Do They Get In Your Brain?
Amoebas are single-celled organisms. If water or dust containing the brain-eating amoeba gets into your nose, you can get infected. The little critters then travel through the olfactory nerve into the frontal lobe of the brain and start chowing down. (It’s nothing personal; they’d actually prefer to eat bacteria).
How Often Do People Get Their Brains Eaten by Amoebas?
Not all that often. There are usually less than 8 cases a year of the brain-eating disease, called “primary amoebic meningoencephalitis” (or PAM for short). They almost always happen from July to September. Worldwide, there have been about 400 reported cases, and 35 in the U.S. since 2001.
Where Do The "Bad" Amoebas Live?
They mostly hang out in warm water. Places where
shrieking sobbing hysterical paranoia caution may be advised include: warm lakes, ponds, puddles, slow-flowing shallow rivers, untreated pools, wells, hot springs, aquariums. And for those adventurous enough to consider them recreation areas, watch out for “thermally polluted water, such as runoff from power plants.”
Oh, and they can also sometimes be found soil, including indoor dust, which means… um… they could be anywhere.
Yikes!
(However, since so much emphasis was put on their warm-water haunts, I’m just going to ignore that thing about indoor dust and pretend they didn’t say that. Anyone else with me?)
Can Brain-Eating Amoebas live in ANY kind of water?
No! The good news is that you’re safe in salt water and in properly treated swimming pools or municipal water.
Do Amoebas Hunger After All Brains Equally?
Nope. Most of the folks who have gotten sick were in Southern or Southwestern states. And over half the cases of infection have been in Florida and Texas. But they seem to be acquiring more of a taste for northern brains, as evidenced by a recent case in Minnesota.
The Killer Amoebas like male brains better than female, and they prefer young brains to old ones. Over 60% of U.S. cases are in children age 13 or younger. About 80% of cases are in males. However, it isn’t clear whether the amoebas are picky, or whether young males are more likely to expose themselves.
If I'm Not Easily Scared, And I Want To Go Ahead and Swim in Warm Untreated Water Anyway, What Should I Avoid Doing To Keep My Brain Intact?
Don't get water up your nose! Infection seems to happen most often when people are diving, water skiing, or horsing around doing something that forces water into their nostrils. Infections have also occurred when people have dunked their heads in hot springs or “used untreated tap water to cleanse their nostrils.” (Nostril cleaning, really? Is it suddenly all that popular a pursuit?)
Also, you know those nerdy nose-plugs? Maybe it’s time to think about wearing one.
What Are the Symptoms?
It’s much like a case of viral meningitis; symptoms include “headache, fever, stiff neck, loss of appetite, vomiting, altered mental state, seizures, and coma. There may also be hallucinations, drooping eyelids, blurred vision, and loss of the sense of taste.”
Just How Screwed Are You if Brain-Eating Amoebas Get Up Your Nose?
It can take from 2 to 15 days for symptoms to appear. Many people have antibodies to N. fowleri, so your body may fight off the amoebas. However, if infected, it's over 95% lethal. Death usually occurs three to seven days after symptoms appear.
So Then I Clearly Need to Panic, Right?
As much as we approve of panic as an all-purpose reaction to anything unexpected, you probably don't need to freak out unless you (a) spend a lot of time in warm untreated water and (b) you are spectacularly unlucky. With only 8 cases a year the chances YOUR brain will get snacked on by amoebas is very, very low.
(And note: this amoeba disease thing may be extremely rare and overhyped in the media, but this post is NOT intended to make light of deaths and suffering caused by those few cases. That part is really tragic.)
So what do y'all think about brain-eating amoebas, are you scared?
