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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.
"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.
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.
I've discovered that I vastly prefer the company of cats to most of humanity.
Have you been tested for toxoplasmosis?