living barnacles in the body

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Dan, that's the theory put forward by one of the marine biologists at the Marine Lab, and retained fragments can certainly cause the type of infection that this gentleman experienced. They can even migrate. The catch in this case is that the surgeon kept having to go in and debride new growths, all of which were identified in the pathology lab. It would be interesting to find out what else could cause recurring calcified growths that a lab would identify as "barnacle".

Best regards,
DDM

 

[RyanT]

I certainly don't know much about osteopathic medicine, but it seems plausible that barnacle fragments embedded near the bone could stimulate additional growth on the bone itself or even ectopically in softer tissue. I just wonder if these growths could be mistaken for the living calcareous organism?

 

[NYCNaiad]

The responses to the article, however, are priceless.

omg, yes! "I once had a tomato seed sprout in a dental cavity" ?!?

 

[diversteve]

This was all so 10 years ago...

 

[DocVikingo]

This was all so (sp) 10 years ago...

Yea--think of how many pounds of beefsteaks it must have yielded by now.

Cheers,

DocV

 

[tech_diver]

I think the holistic treatment for barnacles growing in the body is to introduce whelks into the patients. The whelks will feed on the barnacles and keep them under control. The next step in the treatment is to introduce crabs and isopods to eat the whelks. The final step is to introduce octopuses and sheepsheads to eat the crabs.

 

[chillyinCanada]

There's a hole, there's a hole
There's a hole in the bottom of the sea