Thursday, February 27, 2014

Cats and old folk don't mix so well

New Study: 'Remarkable' Deterioration in Memory Functions of Seniors Infected by Common Parasite Found in Free-roaming Cats

The person who wrote this story really, really doesn't seem to like cats, but the study he or she refers to really does show surprisingly serious results for old folk with toxoplasma gondi.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:01 pm

    what a remarkable coincidence it's reported in *Salem* news

    Jason

    ReplyDelete
  2. Probsbly an over report Steve but I recall one imaging study of schizophrenics and the incidence of T. gondi infection was much higher in the schizophrenics than in the controls, that being concordant with a range of studies showing that T. gondi infection is a risk factor for schizophrenia. Up to 30% of the popn is infected with this parasite and for the greater part it is not a problem because the immune system keeps in it check but with age our immune response declines so it can become a problem. Pregnant women or those planning to become pregnant need to be very careful with the kitty litter because if they develop the infection it can have devastating consequences for the fetus.

    ReplyDelete