Slashdot Mirror
Cat Parasite May Increase Risk of Suicide In Humans
An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at the University of Maryland analyzing meticulous data collected by Danish authorities have identified a positive correlation between suicides among women with infection with the fairly common parasite T. gondii. Carriers were 53 percent more likely to commit suicide in a sample of 45,000 Danish women monitored for over a decade (researchers believe that the same correlation likely exists for men). Increased susceptibility to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder was also discovered. The physiological mechanism has not been determined, although some speculation centers around changes to dopamine levels. Two intriguing aspects were noted: 1) human infection often (but not always) begins by exposure to cats carrying the parasite, for example, by changing an infected animal's litter; and 2) the parasite spreads itself by infecting the nervous system of rodents, causing them to become suicidally attracted to feline odors which will increase the likelihood of their hosts being eaten by cats, whose digestive tracts provide the preferred environment for parasite reproduction."
Crazy cat women.
...but it's still okay to eat cats, right? I mean, as long as you avoid the digestive organs?
sure, this looks like valid research, until you see the citations
Resurch dun by Carnegie Meloncat Institute fellows:
Hovercat
Longcat
Dunecat
with speshul thx 2 cieling cat hoo make all tings possible
(obligatory)
But what if terrorists find a way to use this?
Either way this explains Caturday.
The first stage in the evolution of the Gou'ald has begun.
Once the cats perfect this virus it's all over...
Do the crazy cat ladies have cats because they are crazy, or are they crazy because they have cats?
The parasite also causes decreased sexual inhibition. Translation: It makes women sluttier. No corresponding effect was found in men. Of course, this effect isn't as widely documented for obvious political reasons...
That is because in men there is no sexual inhibition to effect.
"Do the crazy cat ladies have cats because they are crazy, or are they crazy because they have cats?"
Yes.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Sure there is. It's just that rather than being controlled by the brain, it's governed by an external organ known variously as a "wife," "girlfriend," or, in the case of Slashdotters, "mother."
And how many have you seen before they popped out? I know I tried looking but no matter how much I stretched my wife I just couldn't see them...
Didn't you go to any of your wife's ultrasounds during her pregnancy?
Or do you live in the USA or other country with 3rd world medical care?
Stupid sexy Flanders.
Q: What do Slashdotters use for birth control?
A: Their mothers!
Not to mention the fact that attraction to feline odors is only suicidal to humans when we run into burning buildings to try and retrieve our kitties from underneath the bed, and emerge with second-degree burns and major laceration wounds (burns from the fire, laceration wounds from... well, nevermind. Our little kitty is safe. Pissed, but he'll get over that as soon as we give him some tuna.)
Take one example: Americans gorging themselves on McDonald's
Even Americans we know that there's more to life than McDonalds.
For example, there's Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell, Dunkin Donuts and all sorts of other places.