
North Korean defector found to have 'enormous parasites' - farseer
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42021373
======
davidsong
> Nine charts which tell you all you need to know about North Korea

You won't believe number 6!

What on earth happened to the BBC?

~~~
simonswords82
Don't get me started. The BBC used to be a flagship for balanced, meaningful
and insightful news. I've been reading the BBC news website for at least 15
years.

In the last couple of years I've noticed a stark movement towards clickbait
titles and imagery and a movement away from emphasis on balanced news
reporting.

Looking now, the home page is in fact littered with click bait titles:

\- The degrees that make you rich... and the ones that don't

\- How one abuse victim found foster help for her dog Dusty

\- The deadly problem with US fraternities

\- What you may not have realised about acid attacks

Back in the day, that first headline would have been something much more
specific. For example "Computer, maths and science degrees lead to highest
paid jobs".

Sadly, I guess just reporting the facts does not bring the visitors, which is
a shame.

~~~
justinpombrio
> In the last couple of years I've noticed a stark movement towards clickbait
> titles

I have too (have been reading bbc for past 5 years). Do you have any
recommendations for what to read instead?

~~~
simonswords82
To be honest I don't think anybody should rely on one single source of the
truth for their news. The ideal scenario is that you take your news from a
couple of sources, and come to your own conclusions.

Sources I use for news in no particular order:

\- Reuters

\- Al-Jazeera

\- Russia Today

\- The Guardian

\- Reddit - although admittedly this is less for the news itself and more for
the commentary that inevitably follows in various news sub Reddits

------
nl
Tapeworm and other parasites are fascinating things.

One of the most interesting cases was when Laurent Fignon, at the height of
his powers in 1988 withdrew from the Tour de France (which he'd won in 1984,
and would just lose in 1989).

 _The pundits at first blamed Fignon’s problem on a return of the hypoglycemia
that had plagued him in the past but, after the eighth stage in Nancy, he
suddenly discovered the real cause of his fatigue when his trainer pulled six
feet of a tapeworm out of him._ [1]

SIX FEET OF TAPEWORM!

[1] [http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/riderhistories/laurent-
fignon.ht...](http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/riderhistories/laurent-fignon.html)

~~~
jwilk
For metric units users:

6 ft ≈ 1.8 m

------
pvaldes
27 cm long. Not exactly what I would call enormous, ( _in this context!_ ). I
bet that the journalist never had seen a cetacean's worm.

~~~
Asooka
Title was shortened for some reason. Original quote from the doctor is
"enormous number of parasites ".

~~~
pvaldes
Understood, thanks. This makes much more sense.

------
etiam
Associate disgust with North Koreans. Check.

Motivate military invasion as humanitarian intervention. Check.

~~~
dingaling
I always appreciate a cynical take on the news, but to be fair there has been
plenty of justification for humanitarian intervention in NK for the past 60
years. We don't really need more 'reasons'.

This is more like titillation wrapped-up in a respectable jacket of 'serious
current affairs' to get some clicks.

~~~
legulere
60 years? North Korea used to be more industrialized and further along than
the south at the beginning.

~~~
cxspoon
Why does this get downvoted? It is factually 100% correct. People used to flee
from South to North in the beginning.

~~~
jwilk
From the HN guidelines:

 _Please don 't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good,
and it makes boring reading._

------
skummetmaelk
I wonder if most people had similar levels of parasites before sanitation
became common.

~~~
askvictor
There is a theory that humans co evolved with gut worms, and only very
recently live without them; certain body functions improve when worms are
present:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_parasitic_worms_o...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_parasitic_worms_on_the_immune_system)

~~~
55555
Google helminthic therapy and old friends hypothesis.

