Posted on 06/05/2015 8:12:38 AM PDT by Red Badger
WASHINGTON (CBS DC) — Coming into close contact with cats can spread a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) – also dubbed the “cat poop parasite” – which are linked to schizophrenia and other mental disorders that affect humans.
The cat-carried parasite is the most common in developed countries and can infect any warm-blooded species, according to the Schizophrenia Bulletin. Although most humans don’t suffer any symptoms from the widespread parasite, it can cause the illness T. gondii, which is linked to weeks of flu-like symptoms, blindness and even death, CBS News reports.
Two new studies have now linked the T. gondii parasite to increased rates of mental illness in cat owners who may have had increased exposure to parasitic infection.
“Cat ownership in childhood has now been reported in three studies to be significantly more common in families in which the child is later diagnosed with schizophrenia or another serious mental illness,” write study authors E. Fuller Torrey of the Stanley Medical Research Institute and Dr. Robert H. Yolken of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The researchers compared two previous studies that linked childhood cat ownership and the development of schizophrenia later in life from a 1982 mental health survey. A second study by A.L. Sutterland from the Department of Psychiatry at the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam reviewed 50 published studies to a T. gondii infection being tied to mental disorders.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 60 million people are chronically infected with toxoplasma gondii. Close contact with cats, undercooked meat and some unwashed fruits and vegetables are most commonly linked to the parasite. Toxoplasma places pregnant women at risk for birth defects and symptoms of the parasitic infection include swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches and irritation of the eye.
Humane Society data shows there are between 75 to 80 million pet cats and another 30 to 40 million stray or feral cats roaming the U.S. Outdoor cats are at an increased exposure to the T. gondii parasite, which is often found in cats’ infected eggs and feces.
Individuals infected with the parasite are almost twice as likely to develop schizophrenia. Links were also made with addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
“In schizophrenia, the evidence of an association with T. gondii is overwhelming,” the authors say in a press release. “These findings may give further clues about how T. gondii infection can possibly [alter] the risk of specific psychiatric disorders.”
But cat lovers have options for protecting their cat and themselves from the T. gondii parasite.
“Children can be protected by keeping their cat exclusively indoors and always covering the sandbox when not in use,” Torrey told CBS News via email. The CDC recommends changing the cat’s litter box daily. T. gondii does not become infectious until 1 to 5 days in feces and its recommended cats aren’t fed raw or undercooked meat.
Well, that may explain Crazy Cat Lady.
I always thought you had to be crazy to have a cat in your house.
I’m sure CNN will jump on this knowing full well cats are conservatives
What a catastrophe!
Yeah and the damned cat sits there, all arrogant and unconcerned .. preening itself and purrrrs .... “yeah ... so?”
Decades ago as a young neurosurgery resident I was starting my morning with my usual first stop at the CT scanner. On the display was an image that literally was right out of the book. I called the ICU and told the nurse “you need to get the doctor to load that baby with Dilantin right away”. The Peds Resident paged me later and wanted to know how I knew without every seeing the baby or knowing anything about the patient. There are things you can “know the whole story” at a glance. Toxo brain lesions in newborns is one of them.
I used to work for Pfizer, in Columbia Md, making CT scanners..............
I used to have that book................
I believe there is a link between feline leukemia and children leukemia.
I’d never have a cat with kids. Never.
My guess is the association is due to a Pre-existing mental condition where poor hygienic practices cause higher incidence of being infected by the cat parasite.
I’d never have a cat with kids. Never.
I BELIEVE.............sounds just like a Steve Martin routine. I grew up with cats, my children grew up with cats. I believe that this is just another BS study and this is becoming the Friday silly thread.
Cutting to the chase, a woman and her girlfriend stalked her "out of the norm" boyfriend to his house, and walked in on him.
He had something on the order of 237 cats, which explained why her dog didn't like him, the hairs on his clothes, and why she'd never been at his house before, etc.
Part of his clowder came from trapping cats, including pets.
She called the cops, and the humane society.
There was a Russian study saying the same thing years ago but with an odd twist. Fatal car accidents where the victim would ram into things while driving at higher speeds. The mental condition was traced to toxoplasmosis. The article went further and explained the cat, mouse, toxoplasma cycle where the infection in the mice made them surrender to a cat more easily. The toxin was able to thrive in that cycle.
You mean if Obama's doctors treated him for Toxoplasma gondii, they could get rid of his schizophrenia and at least some of his other mental disorders? What are they waiting for? [Note: too bad this wasn't a Viking Kitty. Who knows what could have happened?]
In addition to your cats now causing mental illness, does anyone else find the following other things disturbing?
-A huge chunk of the population can now barely stay outside without meds half the year due to “allergies”.
-Ticks with “lyme disease” infest pretty much every forest and you are practically guaranteed to contract this horrible disease simply by being in the wild (unless you coat yourself in poison).
Wish I could figure out how to post an image.
Dog says to cat, “they don’t put you on a leash because they want you to run away.”
I love my kitty... but LOL at the cartoon visual.
Around here it’s either a cat in the garage or mice in the house. Cats are better.
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