Scary thing is there are people (or at least person) still doing it. They had a guy on Discovery channel a couple months ago who was an extreme sports dude. He accidentally picked up a tapeworm in some jungle wilderness hike (I think it was a race/sporting even/triathalon thing - sort of like a jungle "Iditarod," and within the last five years).
He liked the weight loss effect so much that he routinely ingests a tapeworm. He lets it live for I think he said six weeks, and then takes the medication to kill the tapeworm. He goes "tapeworm-free" for a little while (to minimize the potential health-hazards long-term tapeworm infestation can cause, like vitamin-deficiency) and then starts the process all over again.
The scariest thing is this isn't a guy with a weight problem, just a guy that wants to be at optimal runner's weight AND be able to eat like a pig.