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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 13 of 13. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Hello321 on April 5, 2016, at 11:00:01
I was looking up Cat Allergies and ran into an article about a parasite that is carried by cats that is actually thought to be a possible cause of Schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. It's the same parasite that is the reason pregnant women aren't supposed to clean litter boxes.
Here's the Wikipedia on it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii
I thought it was some weird baseless theory at first, but apparently there's some science behind it. And lately, my mindset has been to not discount any possibility with things like this.
Posted by PeterMartin on April 5, 2016, at 14:21:56
In reply to Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia??, posted by Hello321 on April 5, 2016, at 11:00:01
yea there were a bunch of stories about Toxoplasma gondii in the past few years. Links to increased suicide/agression/schizophrenia... There's so much we just don't know.
I'm a bit reader of Medicalxpress: http://medicalxpress.com/search/?search=Toxoplasma+cat
Posted by Lamdage22 on April 6, 2016, at 5:18:43
In reply to Re: Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia??, posted by PeterMartin on April 5, 2016, at 14:21:56
i checked with doc if i have it. I dont. Money wasted.
Posted by Lamdage22 on April 6, 2016, at 5:36:44
In reply to Re: Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia??, posted by Lamdage22 on April 6, 2016, at 5:18:43
newspapers need to print stuff. Know that.
Posted by SLS on April 6, 2016, at 7:02:08
In reply to Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia??, posted by Hello321 on April 5, 2016, at 11:00:01
Science suggests that schizophrenia is genetic (chromosome 6 is likely involved) and probably epigenetic in origin. It almost always occurs at the same time in life - late teens and early twenties, and has been associated with excessive neuronal pruning, something that might involve exaggerated immune cell activity. Immune function is a normal part of pruning.
I would say that any proposed explanation for the etiology of schizophrenia should take these facts into consideration. I don't know how toxoplasmosis figures into all of this.
- Scott
Posted by Phillipa on April 6, 2016, at 9:28:13
In reply to Re: Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia??, posted by SLS on April 6, 2016, at 7:02:08
I never heard of this. Philipa
Posted by Hello321 on April 6, 2016, at 11:30:26
In reply to Re: Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia??, posted by Phillipa on April 6, 2016, at 9:28:13
It has got me wondering a bit more about the "Cat Scratch Fever" Encephalitis I had when in was 13. It was caused by a cat scratch, hence the name. But I believe it was decided the cause was a certain kind of bacteria that cats get in their claws. I don't have Schizophrenia, I mainly have anhedonia. But I still wonder about what the main cause is behind my situation.
Posted by SLS on April 6, 2016, at 12:05:39
In reply to Re: Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia??, posted by Hello321 on April 6, 2016, at 11:30:26
> It has got me wondering a bit more about the "Cat Scratch Fever" Encephalitis I had when in was 13. It was caused by a cat scratch, hence the name. But I believe it was decided the cause was a certain kind of bacteria that cats get in their claws. I don't have Schizophrenia, I mainly have anhedonia. But I still wonder about what the main cause is behind my situation.
When did your anhedonia emerge?
How do you experience anhedonia?
- Scott
Posted by Phillipa on April 6, 2016, at 12:10:39
In reply to Re: Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia??, posted by Hello321 on April 6, 2016, at 11:30:26
Seems like everything causes or seems to cause some type of illness wasn't this in the past a reason why females if pregnant shouldn't clean liter boxes? Phillipa
Posted by Hello321 on April 6, 2016, at 18:48:24
In reply to Re: Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia??, posted by Phillipa on April 6, 2016, at 12:10:39
> Seems like everything causes or seems to cause some type of illness wasn't this in the past a reason why females if pregnant shouldn't clean liter boxes? Phillipa
Yep, that's the same parasite. But you see, with everything causing illnesses, we live in a "chemical cocoon". The air we breathe has exhaust particulates and fumes from cleaners. The food we eat has pesticides, has added articial color/flavor. Refined sugars. Refined grains. Milk, cheese, dairy is pasteurized, depleting much of its natural nutrients, and shipped miles from where it came from. Our meat comes from animals fed a grains, instead of being allowed to graze of nutrient rich grass. The less healthy the animal, the less healthy it is when eaten. I could go on and on. But our diets promote disease causing inflammation. The more the world eats like Americans, the more in debt nations will get because populations on the whole will have more diseases. They're saying on the news today that a record 144 million people worldwide today have diabetes.
Posted by Hello321 on April 6, 2016, at 18:52:27
In reply to Re: Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia??, posted by Hello321 on April 6, 2016, at 18:48:24
Actually, that diabetes number is 422 million adults, according to this article
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/04/06/study-shows-diabetes-rates-skyrocketing-worldwide
If you remember the videos I posted on sugar a few weeks back, they explained the major reason why so many are getting diabetes.
Posted by Hello321 on April 6, 2016, at 19:02:33
In reply to Re: Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia?? » Hello321, posted by SLS on April 6, 2016, at 12:05:39
>
> When did your anhedonia emerge?
>
> How do you experience anhedonia?
>
>
> - ScottYou might remember in the past about me talking about it. But my anhedonia started while taking Mirapex. I took it to help with "sensation", and it did help for a few weeks. Then one day I took my dose and a bit later I felt very depressed. Ability to feel pleasure severely decreased. Bad anxiety developed. Very low energy. And I've basically been like that since, except for when Cyproheptadine helped quite a lot with it. I took it, and a dose would only help for a few days, and so I'd raise the dose and id benefit further. Over time on it the anhedonia became less and less, until I got to too high a dose and had to stop taking it. That was at the end of 2010, and since then ive very slowly regressed back.
I actually became nearly catatonic because of the Mirapex. I just felt frozen and it was difficult to do anything but lay in bed and stare out the window. Scary. But right now I just feel run down, lack of interest in much. Music and relationships don't interest me that much.
Posted by PeterMartin on June 9, 2016, at 19:03:35
In reply to Re: Cat borne Parasite causes Schizophrenia?? » SLS, posted by Hello321 on April 6, 2016, at 19:02:33
There was new research on this common parasite posted today. Very interesting stuff:
Scientists unpack how Toxoplasma infection is linked to neurodegenerative disease:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-06-scientists-toxoplasma-infection-linked-neurodegenerative.html
Properly spaced in link above.
===
Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan parasite about five microns long, infects a third of the world's population. Ingested via undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables, the parasite infects 15-30 percent of the US population. In France and Brazil, up to 80 percent of the population has the infection.
Particularly dangerous during pregnancy - infection in pregnant women can cause serious congenital defects and even death of the fetus - this chronic infection has two components: the unicellular parasite, and inflammation of tissues it causes.
Working on mice (like all mammals, a natural host for this parasite), a University of California, Riverside team of biomedical scientists reports in the journal PLOS Pathogens that Toxoplasma infection leads to a disruption of neurotransmitters in the brain and postulates that it triggers neurological disease in those already predisposed to such a disease.
They note that Toxoplasma infection leads to a significant increase in glutamate - the primary and most important neurotransmitter in the brain, which transmits excitatory signals between neurons. This glutamate increase is "extracellular," meaning outside the cell, and is strictly controlled by specialized cells in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), called astrocytes. Glutamate buildup is seen in traumatic brain injury as well as highly pathological and neurodegenerating diseases such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
One role astrocytes play is to remove extracellular glutamate, lest it increase to pathological levels that could damage neurons. This is primarily achieved using a glutamate transporter, called GLT-1, tasked with regulating extracellular glutamate. GLT-1 soaks up glutamate released by neurons and converts it back into the safer substance glutamine, which can then be used by cells for energy.
"When a neuron fires it releases glutamate into the space between itself and a nearby neuron," explained lead researcher Emma H. Wilson, an associate professor in the Division of Biomedical Sciences in the School of Medicine, who has worked on toxoplasmosis for more than 15 years. "The nearby neuron detects this glutamate which triggers a firing of the neuron. If the glutamate isn't cleared by GLT-1 then the neurons can't fire properly the next time and they start to die."
Wilson and her team found that during toxoplasma infection, astrocytes swell and are not able to regulate extracellular glutamate concentrations. Further, GLT-1 is not expressed properly. This leads to a buildup of the glutamate released from neurons and the neurons misfire.
"These results suggest that in contrast to assuming chronic Toxoplasma infection as quiescent and benign, we should be aware of the potential risk to normal neurological pathways and changes in brain chemistry," Wilson said.When the researchers treated the infected mice with ceftriaxone, an antibiotic known to produce beneficial results in mouse models of ALS as well as neuroprotection in a variety of central nervous system injuries, they found that GLT-1 was upregulated. This restoration of GLT-1 expression significantly reduced extracellular glutamate from pathological to normal concentrations, returning neuronal function to a normal state.
"We have shown for the first time the direct disruption of a major neurotransmitter in the brain resulting from this infection," Wilson said. "More direct and mechanistic research needs to be performed to understand the realities of this very common pathogen."
Next, Wilson and her colleagues will research what initiates the downregulation of GLT-1 during chronic Toxoplasma infection.
"Despite the importance of this transporter to maintaining glutamate homeostasis, there is little understanding of the mechanism that governs its expression," Wilson said. "We'd like to know how cells, including peripheral immune cells, control the parasite in the brain. Toxoplasma infection results in the lifelong presence of parasitic cysts within the neurons in the brain. We'd like to further develop a project focused on killing the cysts, which is where the parasite hides from the immune response for the rest of the infected person's life. Getting rid of the cyst removes the threat of reactivation of the parasite and the risk of encephalitis while also allowing us to minimize chronic inflammation in the brain."
Mysteriously, the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis can sexually reproduce only in cats. Asexually, it can replicate and live in any mammalian cell that has a nucleus. Indeed, the parasite has been found in every mammal ever tested.
Post-infection, a competent immune system is needed to prevent parasite reactivation and encephalitis. Infected people with compromised immune systems need to be on prophylactic drugs for life. Otherwise they are at risk of cyst reactivation and death. The parasite lives in areas of the brain that have the potential to disrupt certain behaviors such as risk-seeking (infected mice will run toward cat urine instead of away from it).
The parasite is not as latent or dormant as researchers once thought. Cases of congenital infection and retinal toxoplasmosis are on the rise (the brain and retina are closely linked). People who have schizophrenia are more likely to be infected with Toxoplasma. Infection shows some correlation with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.
Nevertheless, Wilson notes that infection is no cause for major worry.
"We have been living with this parasite for a long time," she said. "It does not want to kill its host and lose its home. The best way to prevent infection is to cook your meat and wash your hands and vegetables. And if you are pregnant, don't change the cat litter."
This is the end of the thread.
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