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Cats Not Linked To Brain Cancer After All
sciencehabit writes with good news for cat owners everywhere. From the article: "Last year, cat owners got a scare when a team of French researchers reported a possible link between felines and brain cancer. Cat feces can harbor a single-celled parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, and the scientists found that nations with higher rates of human T. gondii infection also have higher incidences of brain cancer. A new study challenges those findings [paywalled after the first view]. Scientists examining a cohort of more than 600,000 British women found that cat owners were no more likely to develop brain cancer than their cat-free counterparts, despite their presumably greater risk of exposure to T. gondii."
The study in question mostly just found that T. gondii infection rates aren't correlated with cat ownership after all, but there's still no word on whether our friend the parasite causes cancer or not.
There might be *other* things in those nations which cause brain cancer, eg. a national addiction to eating garlic sausages in vinegar. Or something.
No sig today...
They are correlated to finding poop in boxes in your home.
I'm still having my regular scheduled Cat Scans ....
Wait, you mean I CAN'T haz brain cancer??
I get all my science reporting from Mozzie on "White Collar".
When cats are outlawed, only outlaws will have cats!