According to a recent international study conducted by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, a common parasite that can lurk in cat litter boxes may cause undetected brain changes in women that make them more prone to suicide.
Scientists have long known that pregnant women infected with the toxoplasma gondii parasite — spread through cat feces, undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables — could risk still birth or brain damage if transmitted to an unborn infant.
But this new study of more than 45,000 women in Denmark shows changes in their own brains after being infected by the common parasite.
When infected with T. gondii women were one and a half times more likely to attempt suicide than those who were not infected. As the level of antibodies in the blood rose, so did the suicide risk with the relative risk for violent suicide attempts even higher.
It can’t be said with certainty T. gondii was the reason these women to tried to kill themselves, but the study did find a predictive association between the infection and suicide attempts later in life. These findings are certainly enough to warrant additional studies with a larger cohort for a better understanding of the vulnerabilities that certain people have to the parasite.
Suicide is a global public health problem so anything with the potential to increase risk of suicide is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. According to researchers that conducted the study an estimated 10 million attempt suicide and 1 million are successful.
A number that is even more alarming is about one-third of the world is exposed to T. gondii, and most never experience symptoms and therefore don’t know they have been infected. When humans ingest the parasite, the organism spreads from the intestine to the muscles and the brain.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 60 million men, women, and children in the United States alone that carry the toxoplasma parasite, but very few have symptoms.
Toxoplasmosis is considered one of the “neglected parasitic infections,” a group of five parasitic diseases that have been targeted by CDC for public health action.
Previous research on rodents shows that the parasite can reside in multiple brain structures, including the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex, which are responsible for emotional and behavioral regulation.
“The parasite does actually alter the brain of its host,” Stanford University study co-author Patrick House told ABCNews.com last year. “The fact that a parasite can get into an organism, target its brain, stay there without killing the host and alter the circuitry of the brain — we’ve seen this is insects and fungi, but it’s the first time we’ve seen it in a mammalian host.”
It was this and other research that led University of Maryland School of Medicine psychiatrist and suicide neuroimmunology expert Dr. Teodor T. Postolache, to investigate the relationship between the parasite and biological changes in the brain that might lead to suicide. He was also intrigued by studies on allergies and research that showed a connection between toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia.
“I was interested in the neuron aspects of suicide and intrigued by low-grade activation in patients who attempted suicide, as well as victims,” he said. “Other studies had looked at the brain and suicide risk and impulsivity. The next question was, what could be the triggers that perpetuate this level of heightened activation in the brain?”
Postolache collaborated with Danish, German and Swedish researchers, using the Danish Cause of Death Register, which logs the causes of all deaths, including suicide. The Danish National Hospital Register was also a source of medical histories on those subjects.
They analyzed data from women who gave birth between 1992 and 1995 and whose babies were screened for T. gondii antibodies. It takes three months for antibodies to develop in babies, so when they were present, it meant their mothers had been infected. Scientists then cross-checked the death registry to see if these women later killed themselves. They used psychiatric records to rule out women with histories of mental illness.
Dr. J. John Mann, a psychiatrist from Columbia University, said Postolache’s research mirrors his work in the field of suicidal behavior. ”The relationship of the brain to the immune system is more complex than it may appear,” said Mann. “The brain regulates the stress response system, which impacts the immune response.”
Scientists already know that steroids like cortisone can affect the immune response. Some antibodies whose goal is to kill off cancer can also affect the brain. Oftentimes the first symptom of pancreatic cancer is depression, he said.
Research also shows that streptococcus bacteria can trigger obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in some children. Sydenham’s chorea, the loss of motor control that can occur after acute rheumatic fever, may also be an immune response affecting the brain, according to Mann.
Maryland researcher Postolache suspects that some individuals have a predisposition to these neurological changes. He speculates that the parasite may disrupt neurological pathways in those who are vulnerable, so that projections of fear and depression from the amygdala are not tempered or controlled by the “braking” function of the prefrontal cortex.
Even if a direct cause were found, no antibiotics for T. gondii yet exist and it could be a decade before effective vaccines or other agents that might stop the neurological damage are developed.
Right now, the most effective weapon against T. gondii is education about handwashing, the proper cooking of food, and not using a knife exposed to raw meat on cooked meat.
Source: http://gma.yahoo.com/study-links-cat-litter-box-increased-suicide-risk-194116398–abc-news-health.html
Is there a test for finding out if this parasite is in one’s brain?
Diagnosis: Toxoplasmosis can be difficult to distinguish from primary central nervous system lymphoma, and as a result, the diagnosis is made by a trial of therapy (pyrimethamine, sulfadiazine + leucovorin), followed by a brain biopsy if the drugs produce no effect clinically and no improvement on repeat imaging.
Detection of T. gondii in human blood samples may also be achieved by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).[20] Inactive cysts may exist in a host which would evade detection.
Toxoplasmosis cannot be detected with immunostaining. Lymph nodes affected by toxoplasma have characteristic changes, including poorly demarcated reactive germinal centers, clusters of monocytoid B cells and scattered epithelioid histiocytes.
So what is the relevant point here? Is there something that cat slaves should do to protect themselves from this parasite that lurks in cat litter?
I gave birth to my first child in 1992. During my pregnancy I was diagnosed with toxoplasmosis. I struggled with post-partum depression and later with deep depression. When my husband left us in 2000 I had thoughts often of driving into oncoming traffic in front of 18-wheelers. I have had counseling and drug therapy and handle my “sadness” fairly well now. I find these findings very interesting and will continue to follow any new findings on this subject.
Is there a test for the T. gondii? The reason I ask is because the father of my son refused to empty the kitty litter box when I was pregnant–even after the doctor admonished him for it. So he was well aware of the risk of parasites entering the body because i kept reminding him without yelling or nagging. I had to empty the damned box because I couldn’t stand the smell. I always had behavior problems, but now that I think about it, I think they got worse after that episode. Needless to say, I dumped the S.O.B. a long time ago, but not soon enough…
So, what happens if someone actually HAS this T.gondii parasite? What do they do about it? Sure, like G.I. Joe says, “Knowing is half the battle,” but what does that do for us once a person has it? Are there any treatments for it at all? Sure, I wash my hands and am very careful while I’m cooking, but what happens if the worst occurs, etc? I’m not saying ignorance is bliss or anything, but what can we do with this knowledge except to use it as a preventative measures? It’s kinda frustrating on a certain level: knowing about it but unable to do anything about it if it happens. I was going to forward this to a couple of people, but one of them is the type of person who worries over EVERYTHING and this would be just one more thing for them to worry about, so I’m kind of in a quandary, here. Anyway, hopefully they can come up with something.
Also, how much research is being done on T. gondii? Is it one of those things where “some researchers are working on it” but there’s not much time and funding dedicated to it, etc., or is it actually being actively researched with a decent amount of funding? I’m sorry to be so “doom and gloom”, but this article kinda brought me down a little bit, knowing that we can acquire a fairly awful parasite like this, but, once we have it, are unable to do anything about it (and yes, like I said before, I keep the litter box clean and wash my hands and am careful while I’m cooking, etc.).
With the link to depression one would hope NIMH and CDC would work together to identify the components needed in addition to education: diagnosis, treatment, as well as prevention in the form of a vaccine or medication taken regularly, especially for women in childbearing years.
I always knew cats were evil…
I think it’s “EVIL” of you to say that cats are evil. The statement is ludicrous and would only be made by someone whose mentally deranged!
People who have cats love their animals. They wouldn’t give up their cats no matter what type of bacteria is lurking in the litter. All we cat lovers have to do is wash our hands which I’m sure most of them do. Make sure you wash your hands when you cook that meat! Don’t want you getting none of those parasites.
Just like the black death – it was the fleas, but everyone blamed the rats. It is not the cat’s fault that there are parasites in the world – why not blame God?
I find the information to be depressing in that how to avoid it is not clearly stated near the beginning nor at the end. It is inferred and should be stated clearly. How is this article truly helpful to us?
Cats are not evil… People are so ignorant… This article got me furious. I’m aware of the parasite and the precaution, but this cultivated more hatred to cats. It’s not their fault.
This product might be something to look at if you are afraid you might be infected with any parasite. It is called ParaPure Parasite Cleanse.
http://www.oasisadvancedwellness.com/products/parapure.html
Just for starters, you’re far more likely to get T.gondii from under-cooked meat than from a litter box. Particularly if you do the right thing and clean the litter box daily, which is not only good for your cat, but eliminates the possibility of being exposed to T.gondii via the litter box. Cat feces does not begin to shed the T.gondii virus until at least 24 hours after leaving the cat’s body.
Also, if your cat is exclusively an indoor cat, the chances of their being infected is small, since the way they get infected is by catching and eating mice, which are generally found outdoors, rather than in your house. And keeping in mind than an infected cat sheds the virus for only a few days in their entire life, you really have better things to do than wring your hands over whether or not your cat is going to make you commit suicide.
Honestly, I thought this was a website devoted to science. Maybe a little research is in order before just regurgitating a story that can be found on Gawker? http://gawker.com/5923036/being-a-cat-lady-increases-your-risk-of-committing-suicide
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