Health3 min(s) read
Just one bite of popular Thai dish can give you liver cancer
Imagine getting cancer from a single bite of a traditional Thai dish.
It turns out you don’t have to see this scenario in your nightmares, as a doctor in Thailand has been running a campaign to try and prevent people from eating the popular dish after it caused the deaths of his parents.
The delicacy seems unassuming when looking at it, but there is something that is highly bad for your health hidden beneath the surface.
And we’re not talking about the fish it is made out of.
The dish, known as koi pla, is popular among that nation’s poorest regions – Isaan.
The meal in question can be made in minutes, using natural and locally sourced ingredients and prepared by mincing raw fish with herbs, spices, and lemon juice.
Despite being eaten by millions of people, it can cause those who consume it to develop deadly liver cancer.
But it isn’t because of the fish.
It’s the hidden liver flukes, known as parasitic flatworms, that live inside the fish.
The worms are so common in the dish that around 50 per cent of cancers diagnosed in men are due to consuming them.
Sadly, Narong Khuntikeo's parents were two victims of the cancer.
The pair died from bile duct cancer, aka cholangiocarcinoma, which led him to develop a passion for educating people about the dangers of eating koi pla.
Having trained as a liver surgeon, he works with doctors, scientists, and researchers to utilize ultrasound machines and urine tests in Isaan to provide early screening for its villagers.
Because the cancer comes later in life after an accumulation of parasites in the body, Narong is trying to reach as many people as possible, particularly the elders.
However, despite his aim to save lives through educating people about the dish, many have been reportedly resistant to change.
That’s because cooking the fish, which could kill the parasites, would change the taste and texture of the food.
A lot of the elders have also been eating the dish since they were children, and so this means that it’s comforting, traditional, and what they are used to.
“It’s a very big health burden around here,” Narong told Agence France-Presse. “But nobody knows about this because they die quietly, like leaves falling from a tree.”
However, without surgery, the disease has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers, according to cholangiocarcinoma charities.
So, leaving the elders without the chance of treatment could increase their likelihood of dying from cancer.
“They’ll say: ‘Oh well, there are many ways to die,’” the surgeon said of how elders respond to him. “But I cannot accept this answer.”