Estimates from 2010 were that it contributed to at least 50,000 deaths annually.In US during 1990–2002, 221 cysticercosis deaths were identified. Mortality rates were highest for Latinos and men. The mean age at death was 40.5 years (range 2–88). Most patients, 84.6%, were foreign born, and 62% had emigrated from Mexico. The 33 US-born persons who died of cysticercosis represented 15% of all cysticercosis-related deaths. The cysticercosis mortality rate was highest in California, which accounted for 60% of all cysticercosis deaths. History
The earliest reference to tapeworms were found in the works of ancient Egyptians that date back to almost 2000 BC. The description of measled pork in the History of Animals written by Aristotle (384–322 BC) showed that the infection of pork with tapeworm was known to ancient Greeks at that time. It was also known to Jewish and later to early Muslim physicians and has been proposed as one of the reasons for pork being forbidden by Jewish and Islamic dietary laws. Recent examination of evolutionary histories of hosts and parasites and DNA evidence show that over 10,000 years ago, ancestors of modern humans in Africa became exposed to tapeworm when they scavenged for food or preyed on antelopes and bovids, and later passed the infection on to domestic animals such as pigs.Cysticercosis was described by Johannes Udalric Rumler in 1555; however, the connection between tapeworms and cysticercosis had not been recognized at that time.
During the sinking of the Titanic, most people who entered the −2 °C (28 °F) water died in 15–30 minutes.The actual cause of death in cold water is usually the bodily reactions to heat loss and to freezing water, rather than hypothermia (loss of core temperature) itself. For example, plunged into freezing seas, around 20% of victims die within two minutes from cold shock (uncontrolled rapid breathing, and gasping, causing water inhalation, massive increase in blood pressure and cardiac strain leading to cardiac arrest, and panic); another 50% die within 15–30 minutes from cold incapacitation: inability to use or control limbs and hands for swimming or gripping, as the body "protectively" shuts down the peripheral muscles of the limbs to protect its core. Exhaustion and unconsciousness cause drowning, claiming the rest within a similar time. Pathophysiology
Heat is primarily generated in muscle tissue, including the heart, and in the liver, while it is lost through the skin (90%) and lungs (10%). Heat production may be increased two- to four-fold through muscle contractions (i.e. exercise and shivering). The rate of heat loss is determined, as with any object, by convection, conduction, and radiation. The rates of these can be affected by body mass index, body surface area to volume ratios, clothing and other environmental conditions.Many changes to physiology occur as body temperatures decrease.