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Posted in Parasite Worms Worms Generally Worms in Humans

What are Rope Worms?

“What are rope worms?” asks one of our readers in Canada. This is all she writes in her submission, and yet this short, simple question is an excellent one. It’s a question that has been posed many times on the internet, with very different responses coming from all sides. The truth of the matter is that rope worms are not really worms at all. What ‘rope worms’ actually refers to is the mucus that is shed by the human intestines. The point of intestinal mucus is to protect our body from harmful microorganisms that could enter our bloodstream through our intestines, and humans excrete intestinal mucus all the time, like we constantly shed skin. But we do not excrete this music in the rope-like structures that ‘rope worms’ refer to. Excretion of intestinal mucus in this fashion could be a sign of gastrointestinal problems.