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Re: WE ARE NOT THE SAME! *LINK*
Posted By: karibkween In Response To: Re: WE ARE NOT THE SAME! (simon I)
Date: Thursday, 14 July 2011, at 12:10 p.m.
The T. Gondii parasite probably existed before there were races to be mixed. It is said that its preferred hosts are cats but also suggests that cats become affected just as humans do from contact with raw or undercooked meat. So it would seem that all infection can be traced to consumation of dead flesh. The most fearless carnivores on the planet are big Cats.
"Recent epidemiologic studies indicate that infectious agents may contribute to some cases of schizophrenia. In animals, infection with Toxoplasma gondii can alter behavior and neurotransmitter function. In humans, acute infection with T. gondii can produce psychotic symptoms similar to those displayed by persons with schizophrenia. Since 1953, a total of 19 studies of T. gondii antibodies in persons with schizophrenia and other severe psychiatric disorders and in controls have been reported; 18 reported a higher percentage of antibodies in the affected persons; in 11 studies the difference was statistically significant. Two other studies found that exposure to cats in childhood was a risk factor for the development of schizophrenia. Some medications used to treat schizophrenia inhibit the replication of T. gondii in cell culture. Establishing the role of T. gondii in the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia might lead to new medications for its prevention and treatment...
Schizophrenia is a pervasive neuropsychiatric disease of uncertain cause that affects approximately 1% of the adult population in the United States and Europe. An increased occurrence of schizophrenia in family members of affected persons suggests that genetic factors play a role in its etiology, and some candidate predisposing genes have been identified. Environmental factors are also important. Epidemiologic studies, for example, have established that winter-spring birth, urban birth, and perinatal and postnatal infection are all risk factors for the disease developing in later life. These studies have rekindled an interest in the role of infectious agents in schizophrenia, a concept first proposed in 1896 (1). This review focuses on evidence specifically linking infection with Toxoplasma gondii to the etiology of some cases of schizophrenia...
Whether any geographic association exists between the prevalence of toxoplasmosis and the prevalence of schizophrenia is unknown. France, which has a high prevalence of Toxoplasma-infected persons, was reported to have first-admission rates for schizophrenia approximately 50% higher than those in England (41). Ireland also has a high rate of Toxoplasma-infected persons in rural areas (42), confirmed by the high rate of infection in hospital personnel in our own study. The area of our study in Ireland has also been reported to have a high prevalence of schizophrenia (43)...
Toxoplasma organisms have also been shown to impair learning and memory in mice (5) and to produce behavioral changes in both mice and rats. Of special interest are studies showing that Toxoplasma-infected rats become less neophobic, leading to the diminution of their natural aversion to the odor of cats (6). These behavioral changes increase the chances that the rat will be eaten by a cat, thus enabling Toxoplasma to complete its life cycle, an example of evolutionarily driven manipulation of host behavior by the parasite...
In humans, Toxoplasma is an important cause of abortions and stillbirths after primary infection in pregnant women. The organism can also cross the placenta and infect the fetus. The symptoms of congenital toxoplasmosis include abnormal changes in head size (hydrocephaly or microcephaly), intracranial calcifications, deafness, seizures, cerebral palsy, damage to the retina, and mental retardation. Some sequelae of congenital toxoplasmosis are not apparent at birth and may not become apparent until the second or third decade of life. Hydrocephalus (7), increased ventricular size (8), and cognitive impairment (9) have also been noted in some persons with schizophrenia and other forms of psychosis."
Toxoplasma gondii and Schizophrenia
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