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Mind-Altering Cat Parasite Linked To a Whole Lot of Neurological Disorders (sciencealert.com)
schwit1 shares a report from ScienceAlert: The brain-dwelling parasite Toxoplasma gondii is estimated to be hosted by at least 2 billion people around the world, and new evidence suggests the lodger could be more dangerous than we think. While the protozoan invader poses the greatest risk to developing fetuses infected in the womb, new research suggests the parasite could alter and amplify a range of neurological disorders, including epilepsy, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's, and also cancer. "This study is a paradigm shifter," says one of the team, neuroscientist Dennis Steindler from Tufts University. "We now have to insert infectious disease into the equation of neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy, and neural cancers." The findings are part of an emerging field of research looking into how T. gondii, which is usually transmitted to humans via contact with cat faeces (or by eating uncooked meat), produces proteins that alter and manipulate the brain chemistry of their infected hosts.
Thus explaining "crazy cat lady" syndrome.
"To be clear, the researchers aren't saying the brain parasite is definitively what's behind people developing these debilitating illnesses, but it's possible that T. gondii's protein-based meddling in the brain environment could possibly influence or enable pre-existing susceptibilities in some people to these kinds of diseases."
So, only possibly linked. But maybe not. Bad title.
Now you know why they do the things they do.
If this is remotely true, we are well and truly fucked, because it isn't just cats, it's damn near everything.
On the serious side, cook yer gadamned food properly and wash your hands after doing shit like taking a crap, or petting pigs, and then all you'll have to worry about is everything else.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
more and more we're finding mental disorders and weaknesses aren't poor decision making or weak moral fiber but a sign something is broken. For millennia we've blamed the mentally ill for their faults unless they were so stark raving mad we couldn't do anything but laugh. As a lot of smaller behavioral problems are traced to physiology I wonder if our society and our political narratives will adapt.
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Well, yes and no...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Still totally worth it.
must be my 6 cats that make me trip out all the time.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
n/t
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Sorry, but I don't believe in your faerie tales and imaginary friends.
Fæces. Slashdot. Unicode.
That is all.
Ted Nugent? https://www.google.com/search?...
Considering about 40% of the population have a cat and they're not all keeling over from cancer or getting parkinsons and alzheimers, I think I'll not get overly worked up over the attempt to squeeze more clicks out of this bait.
Usually mice are afraid of the scent of cats, and steer clear.
But toxoplasma gondii-infected mice lose their fear of cats, and are actually attracted to the scent. They'll seek it out and hang out close to cats, where they'e more likely to be eaten, thus transferring the toxoplasma to the cat, where it can continue its life cycle.
That has nothing to do with this article, but I think it's really cool.
--I'm so big, my sig has its own sig.
-- See?
This is *really* cool science, but "paradigm shifting" may be a touch over the top--this isn't the first paper or study to come to the conclusion that Toxo plays a role in neurological disorders, and there are labs around the globe that have been working on this topic for years. (Full disclosure: my wife was a postdoc in a lab that studied Toxo and its role in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. I'm no expert myself and will happily defer to real researchers on this, but I picked up a lot over the years from her.)
Fun Toxo tidbit: this is dredged from the depths of my memory, but as I recall that they've found a correlation between Toxo rates and automobile accident rates across several countries in Europe. The underlying theory is that Toxo causes very slight impairments in both risk assessment and motor control in its victims--not enough to really notice in an individual, but enough to track across a population...
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
Ignorant pieces or shit like yourself are busy cutting your own throats electing by electing Roy Cohn's bitch because you just can't fucking stand the idea that somebody you don't see as worthy, which means poor and/or minority, might be getting more benefit from your tax dollars than you are. So instead you're giving it to the 1% and up while hoping that you might one day win the job/lottery and join them.
Enjoy watching the planet burn.
"Mind-Altering Cat Parasite Linked To a Whole Lot of Neurological Disorders"
Frightening? Horrific? OK, I know that anecdotal evidence is not worth much compared to empirical evidence. But here goes anyway.
I have antibodies to brain-dwelling parasite Toxoplasma gondii. I was infected with the cat parasite over 80 years ago. I injured my back in the gym at age 72, but apart from that have no neurological infirmities. In fact, I have no clinically identifiable organic disease and take no medication.
The cat parasite did not stop me from scoring way up in the 99th percentile for both the verbal and quantitative parts of the 1962 Graduate Record Exam, or from obtaining two American university degrees, with GPA's of 3.9 and 4.0, or from teaching at a prestigious foreign university, or from being appointed as a principal scientist by a foreign government, or from working as senior consultant for multinational corporations.
Though over the age of 85, I still work as a financial/economic consultant to governments and international organizations and still train younger consultants, including quantitative methods.
I admit that I do have an odd brain. My siblings considered me eccentric (to put it mildly), but from about the age of 12, the the adults called me the Professor. I often have the experience of looking at a complex problem and seeing the solution wholly formed all at once. Sometimes this follows after seeing something wrong with a proposed solution without knowing what is wrong with it.
The cat parasite seems either not to have the effect that these researchers would expect, or merely to have degraded my brain enough to prevent me from winning a Nobel Prize for something.
But since I have had a lot of fun with the faulty brain the cat has left me with, I have no need for the Nobel Prize.
Because if it dates back to ancient times then it is already half way integrated into us as another mostly harmless or even beneficial micro-organism.
Quite impressive really.
Being diagnosed with TP at least 2 years before the first confirmed cases showing TP was a human pathogen, and 11 years before a test was developed for it.
Luck you are so smart, Professor - you should publish!
I did some reading up on toxoplasmosis about a decade ago, when a friend's twenty-something son got mixed up with a crazy woman in her forties who was a classic "crazy cat lady" (except she was not old and she looked and acted like an oversexed teenager). Not much had been published in the medical journals at that time, and I doubt that much has been added since then.
There had been several studies on toxoplasmosis in rats. Some of the findings were that infected rats became greater risk-takers who would explore potentially hostile environments sooner, and more often, than healthy rats. They were attracted to cat urine, where healthy rats avoid that odor. They were more sexually active than uninfected rats.
There was conjecture at that time that "crazy cat ladies" did not experience the odor of cat piss the same way other people did, which is why they tolerated, and sometimes seem to prefer, to live in rooms that reeked of cat piss. There was conjecture that these women were promiscuous and as a group tended to have intense sexual relationships that did not last long. It seemed like as a group they had more automotive crashes than the norm, and that they were more frequently fired for abusing sick leave and other job perks, or fudging the paperwork. These are indicators of a greater degree of risk-taking.
Conclusions: In the specific case, the boy got dumped and the girl moved out of state, so that was resolved. My personal conclusion is to avoid any relationship with women who live with cat stink, or own more than two cats. I will not venture any more general conclusion.
It is a little scary that somewhere between 1 in 5 and 1 in 3 adults tests positive for exposure to T. gondii. However there is no way to determine whether any of these positives is an active carrier, or whether the parasite has gotten into their brain.
Now if I were going to write a zombie apocalypse story, I would probably use a mutant strain of T. gondii as the agent.... But I don't write that kind of story.
provided you've got universal healthcare there's the opportunity to get tested, treated and cured before it's an issue.
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Imagine that this parasite were also responsible for your political leanings - would you want to be cured if it meant you'd adopt the opposite positions on social issues? I expect that some would want to be rid of the parasite, some would seek to ban testing and others would try to infect everyone.
A guy named Flegr. For years the med establishment considered it completely benign (except pregnant woman) until Flegr researched it. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy/308873/
There was conjecture that these women were promiscuous and as a group tended to have intense sexual relationships that did not last long.
Ok, sold. How do we infect the hot chicks of the planet?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Or reading a certain sci-fi series where the far future is actually controlled by intelligent, sentient bacteria that will their unwitting host species to co-operate or go to war to further their distribution in the galaxy
Sheep specifically: http://www.msd-animal-health.co.nz/products/toxovax/020_product-overview.aspx
Surely it can't be too hard to adapt it for humans.
When I talk about getting rid of political parasites, this wasn't exactly what I was talking about...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Coincidence?
I think not.
They were more sexually active than uninfected rats.
I guess that explains why nobody has bothered to find a cure for this disease that affects billions of people. Would they want the cure anyway?
Ok, sold. How do we infect the hot chicks of the planet?
So now, you finally understand how the internet can both at the same time be
- only for porn
- only for kitten
You're witnessing our Machiavellian ploy unfold.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Wtf? What are you, a racist Dadaist?
I wonder what's next?
Thus explaining "crazy cat lady" syndrome.
Yes, that's exactly what it explains. No joke.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Toxoplasma Gondii is an extra-terrestrial invader, and cats are their unwitting foot-soldiers. ... hmmm ... )
(or perhaps witting
The real question is whether the parasite is merely a weaponized micro-organism under the control of some other intelligence, or whether collectively they *ARE* the ETs themselves. The mind boggles ...
Who eats cats faces?
ntr
Hate to break it to you but life doesn't work that way. Facts don't care about your attitude.
"One Cat Short of Crazy"
Have gnu, will travel.
People are saying the medieval Church was a crazy monster for burning witches at the stake, but this research indicates they acted righteously to rid the christiandom of black cats, which are most dangerus, being able to carry around toxoplasmosis unseen at night.
There was conjecture at that time that "crazy cat ladies" did not experience the odor of cat piss the same way other people did, which is why they tolerated, and sometimes seem to prefer, to live in rooms that reeked of cat piss.
Oh come on. When you spend most of the time in presence of a certain smell, the intensity of the smell you register drops significantly (evidence: smelly people).
No, I am not a crazy cat person. Nor a cat.
Has every surface been looked at with a UV blacklight to ensure no accidental contamination? Cats regularly scratch the side of catboxes in an attempt to cover over their feces. Studies say this pathogen can survive extended periods of time and is resistant to most known cleaning agents.
Somebody is really attached to their pussy cat...
That's not a unreasonable question, and it might even have some application to this particular case, though it would certainly be an edge effect. Toxoplasmosis does seem to encourage risky behavior (of certain types) so it could affect political leanings. But curing it wouldn't reverse political leanings because those are largely habitual. That said, it has been demonstrated, e.g., that, statistically, Republicans are more sensitive to disgust than are Democrats. So there certainly are deep connections that could over time change things. Just *how* that would change things is unclear. And it's not as if toxoplasmosis is the only bacterial mind-control agent that inhabits people. They aren't all even parasites, unless you consider your gut bacteria parasites.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
And let me guess, the people afflicted with this parasite all happen to have a political ideology that differs from yours?
Is it a coincidence that this condition is gaining new attention now that the guy who jacked up the price of the treatment is having expensive legal costs at the moment?
Sounds like you're describing classic symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder; and given my (unfortunate) familiarity with several sufferers (runs in my family) - they seem to share a common trait of hypersensitive smell.
So yes: they all seem to love cats. A lot. And prefer them to humans. (because: you get pure affection, with no complicated human emotional and relational politics). But cat pee? Not the ones I'm familiar with. They absolutely don't tolerate it, and take extra measures to stay on top of pet odors. (and all odors, really). (even odors that aren't really there).
Now: that there IS a "classic crazy cat-lady" syndrome, I won't deny. I just don't think it's common to these Borderline Personality Disorder people (who are also commonly very fond of cats). Maybe some BPD ppl get t. gondii infections and get both? That would be unfortunate because BPD is bad enough. Those people struggle to lead normal lives as it is.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Give them kittens of course.
It may be more likely that your friend's 40 something girlfriend had PCOS. People with PCOS often have extremely high sex drives. And that drive can lead to some socially immature behavior. ( like seeking out a 20 something for a relationship )
I know nothing about PCOS ---I just now googled to find it is "Polycystic Ovary Syndrome". Since one of the women in my social circle comes down with every estrogen related polysyllabic disease with an abbreviation within a short time of its first appearance on the intarwebs she frequents, I will undoubtedly soon be made familiar with the litany of PCOS' signs and symptoms. If you don't know any women with this particular form of Munchhausen syndrome, I envy you.
But does PCOS lead to the inability to hold down a job for longer than the first annual performance review, where questions of whether the woman had completed any of the assigned tasks without fudging somewhere arise? A resume of more than 12 jobs in the last decade is probably not a part of whatever PCOS is, but is common among CCLs (Crazy Cat Ladies, abbreviation introduced here to keep pace with the PMAs ---Pseudo Medical Abbreviations--- that are being floated around). Does PCOS lead to the inability to get reasonable car insurance because of an excessive number of bizarre accidents ("I was sure that I could squeeze into that space")?
CCL from the toxo parasite is associated with these behaviors, as well as with the sexual promiscuity.
I remember reading somewhere that the highest concentration of human hosts of the parasite was France (due to their propensity to eating raw meat). That article noted a correlation between this and 'fiery temperament' and increased risk taking behaviour.
Now I see why God moved my dad to never allow us to have a cat.
echo 'Cats: How are you gentlemen?! All your brain are belong to us. You are on the way to destruction. You will not survive; make your time. Hahahaha.' | tr [:lower:] [:upper:]
It turns out that President Trump has been infected with T.gondii for decades.
Also, so have a vast majority of citizens that voted for him.
Thus, answering some perplexing questions...
Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.
The possible link does not link brain diseases to the brain parasite. That being said, there is a great deal of research in the MS(Multiple Sclerosis) world that indicate that MS is spreading like a virus, ie. the same pattern of expansion like the Flu, but much slower. There is also the JC virus that 98% of people have. If you do have the JC virus and take certain MS medications, there is a very high probability that the JC virus turns toxic and literally eats your brain. This is normally fatal, and those that have been saved would be better off dead.
Life is in a state of dynamic equilibrium, it both blows and sucks
"This study is a paradigm shifter,"
I'm calling b.s. based solely on the fact that one of the researches actually uttered that phrase.
Hate to break it to you, but these "studies" are almost always full of shit and only pushed to fulfill selfish agendas. Facts don't even come into play, but you keep on mindlessly believing everything you hear, junior.
stupid cat videos that get posted on the internet!
Ever think she just isn't that into you?