Posted on 02/14/2013 1:19:40 AM PST by neverdem
Toxoplasma is a common 'cat parasite', and has previously been in the spotlight owing to its observed effect on risk-taking and other human behaviours. To some extent, it has also been associated with mental illness. A study led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now demonstrates for the first time how the parasite enters the brain to influence its host.
"We believe that this knowledge may be important for the further understanding of complex interactions in some major public health issues, that modern science still hasn't been able to explain fully," says Antonio Barragan, researcher at the Center for Infectious Medicine at Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control. "At the same time, it's important to emphasize that humans have lived with this parasite for many millennia, so today's carriers of Toxoplasma need not be particularly worried." The current study, which is published in the scientific journal PLoS Pathogens, was led by Dr Barragan and conducted together with researchers at Uppsala University.
Toxoplasmosis is caused by the extremely common Toxoplasma gondii parasite. Between 30 and 50 per cent of the global population is thought to be infected, and an estimated twenty per cent or so of people in Sweden. The infection is also found in animals, especially domestic cats. People contract the parasite mostly by eating the poorly cooked flesh of infected animals or through contact with cat faeces. The infection causes mild flu-like symptoms in adults and otherwise healthy people before entering a chronic and dormant phase, which has previously been regarded as symptom-free. It is...
--snip--
A number of studies also confirm that mental diseases like schizophrenia, depression and anxiety syndrome are more common in people with toxoplasmosis, while others suggest that toxoplasmosis can influence how extroverted, aggressive or risk-inclined an individual's behaviour is...
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Uh oh.
Don’t any of you people sleep......uh what am I saying?
Bad news day for cats.
Beware kitty!
Okay, so how do I get rid of the parasite and is the cure covered by Obamacare?
What a great new legal defense for cat-owning reckless people (possible oxymoron?): My cat's parasites made me do it!
Before we get all crazy about the kitties making us crazy ... I just want to say I don’t think it’s that common here in the U.S. I grew up with a ton of farm cats all around me (we commonly had 25 or so outside cats) and as a small child, paid little attention to sanitation. As an adult, I live closely with several indoor kitties, most of them rescues from outside. (We have had anywhere from 11 to four cats in the house at any one time, since we do rescue work sometimes.)
When we were trying to get pregnant, I was concerned about this issue, so I made my doc give me a blood test ... and after 35+ years of living very closely with a number of cats, I did NOT test positive for the antibody! (I was hoping I would, so I wouldn’t have to worry about it during pregnancy. However, it gave me a good excuse to have my husband clean out the litterboxes during my pregnancy. ;o)
Anyway, people get a little over-the-top about this, I’ve noticed, so I wanted to share my .02.
HAHA you’re posting on a cat thread on FR at 3AM and claiming you are perfectly sane? Give it up Hetty.
Sarcasm aside, you make a pretty good case.
LOL! Good point. I took some prednisone pills this evening though, for this wretched cold, and I am WIDE awake! Just spent time watching Craig Ferguson and holding our two newest kitty babies ... brought them in as feral terrified itty bitty kittens this summer, now they are teenagers and so affectionate it’s like having sweet babies with fur around. (Okay, hm, maybe my brain has been a little affected! LOL!)
I discussed this with my cat and he said (in Swedish)not to worry about it, I think that’s what he said, anyway I know cats don’t make you nuts.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my combined microbiology/immunology ping list.
Ping.... (Thanks, neverdem!)
Ping.... (Thanks, neverdem!)
Ping.... (Thanks, neverdem!)
Ping.... (Thanks, neverdem!)
Well. That’s a new personal best (or worst). Sorry, all about the extra pings.
I *am* asleep.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you :)
Not a cat person. I tend to dislike then.
So I was really surprised 3’years ago on June 6th when my Brittany bitch had one pinned in the corner of my yard. A tinny she-kitten less than 2 lbs. seems my neighbor cleaned out a ‘nest’ of feral cats under his shed and this one made through the chain link to my yard.
My boys still make fun of me for taking care of “D Day” knowing my cat history.
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