According to the research study, the hosts blood sugar drops to alarmingly low levels as the malaria parasite ruins blood cells. The host is ridding itself of the parasite by reducing its blood sugar, they say, and the parasite is becoming less virulent to try and keep both itself and the host alive long enough to seed the next generation. They can take one of two paths: they can essentially clone themselves, creating more blood cell– contaminating parasites, or they can create gametes, which wait rather quiescently up until a mosquito slurps them up so they can end up being the next generation of parasites and contaminate other hosts. The former path enables the parasites to eventually produce more gametes, but in the meantime, the infected red blood cells burst, launching the oxygen-transport molecule heme into the blood. They observed that mice contaminated with Plasmodium (either P. chaubadi or P. falciparum) showed the exact same symptoms as people infected with the parasites: They stopped consuming and their blood sugar levels dropped along with their red blood cell counts.
According to the study, the hosts blood sugar drops to dangerously low levels as the malaria parasite destroys blood cells. The former course permits the parasites to ultimately produce more gametes, but in the meantime, the infected red blood cells burst, releasing the oxygen-transport particle heme into the blood. They observed that mice contaminated with Plasmodium (either P. chaubadi or P. falciparum) showed the exact same symptoms as human beings contaminated with the parasites: They stopped consuming and their blood sugar levels dropped along with their red blood cell counts.
