In the March 2012 Atlantic, there is an article titled “How Your Cat Is Driving You Crazy” by Kathleen McAuliffe. Her article is about a scientist, Jaroslav Flegr, an evolutionary biologist at Charles University in Prague, who believes himself to be the victim of mind-altering, emotion-altering, and action-altering parasites in his brain. After years of working on this issue without respect or support, Flegr is finally getting respect and financial support for his research and the issue itself. This document is a report on the article: mostly facts, little analysis.
“Convinced that a single-celled parasite from the protozoan family was subtly manipulating her personality, causing her to behave strangely and often self-destructively,” Flegr set out to investigate the problem, knowing she couldn’t be the only one. person who suffered In his opinion, this problem could be responsible for deaths, schizophrenia and other psychological and emotional symptoms.
The parasite in question is the same one we’ve been warned about coming from our cats – toxoplasma gondii – the microbe that causes toxoplasmosis. This parasite is excreted in the feces of the cat. In the past, we’ve been told to stay away from their litter boxes during pregnancy; this parasite and babies should not be mixed, as the parasite can cause serious brain problems if transferred in vitro. We now know that even those with lower immune systems can be severely affected. Healthy people may experience some nausea, but no serious symptoms.
If humans are infected, the parasite is presumed to lie dormant in brain cells. Aack! But here’s the rub: This supposedly dormant parasite may not be sitting there quite so calmly. It may be disrupting the connections between neurons and changing our responses in ways that allow the parasite to return to a cat, the only place it can reproduce. Altering our neural connections changes responses in situations that are frightening, changes our preference for certain smells, changes whether we are introverts or extroverts, and changes how willingly we trust others.
Several months ago, I watched a PBS show about how hard plants work to survive. In a kind of “Nature will find a way” from Jurassic Park, both the plants and this parasite are working to survive. And if they have to knock you down to do it, that’s how it will have to be.
What made Flegr look for a problem?
• His behavior caused you concern.
• Did not worry when crossing the street in heavy traffic.
• When cars honked at him, he didn’t jump out of the way.
• He made no effort to hide his contempt for the communists, the rulers at the time. Given the politics of the time, he could have been jailed for speaking so openly.
• When under fire, he was very calm, a stark contrast to his frightened colleagues.
How does it work:
• Indoor cats do not carry the parasite.
• Outdoor cats shed the parasite for only three weeks of their lives when they are young and have just started hunting.
• Humans are exposed by contact: by litter boxes, by drinking water contaminated with cat feces, by eating unwashed vegetables, or by eating raw or undercooked meat.
• The parasite rewires circuits in the parts of the brain that deal with primary emotions such as fear, anxiety, and sexual arousal.
• The parasite switches off fear circuits in the brain, which could help explain why infected rats lose their aversion to cat smell.
theories
• Schizophrenia did not become widespread until the mid-1700s, around the time that Europeans began keeping cats as pets. This trend quickly spread in popularity and the incidence of schizophrenia exploded.
• The parasite contributes to many other problems, including car accidents, suicides, and mental disorders such as schizophrenia.
• It is a likely factor in several hundred thousand road deaths each year.
• This parasitic infection may be responsible for as many deaths as malaria: at least one million people a year.
• T. gondii may not be the only parasite that interferes with our thinking. OMG! What thought!
• The parasite can increase the risk of suicide. “In a 2011 study of 20 European countries, the national suicide rate among women increased in direct proportion to the prevalence of infection in the population.”
• One theory is that it “disturbs mood and the ability to control violent impulses.” However, rather than the parasite causing the difficulty, it could be the body’s own immune responses to the parasite that cause the problem.
• In studies of schizophrenia, it has been shown that parts of the cerebral cortex are shrinking. Dr. Flegr believes that the parasite may also be to blame. Studies show that people with shrinking of the cerebral cortex are also infected with this parasite.
• The parasite can trigger schizophrenia in genetically susceptible people.
Spleen infection:
• The French can have an infection rate of up to 55 percent because of their love of truly red meat.
• Americans have infection rates of 10 to 20 percent.
• Up to a third of the world is infected with this parasite.
Studies – Animals
• Infected rodents were much more active on wheels than uninfected ones, making them a more attractive target for cats.
• T.gondii can turn a rat’s strong innate aversion to cats into an attraction, drawing it into the jaws of its number one predator.
• Infected rats were attracted to the cat’s urine, again a way of getting back to the cat.
• The infected rats, although happy and healthy, had benign cysts throughout their brains, with many more cysts in the parts of the brain that deal with pleasure, fear, and anxiety.
• The parasite produces more dopamine in the brain, a critical signaling molecule involved in fear, pleasure and attention; Dopamine is known to be high in people with schizophrenia.
• The parasite makes the cat smell attractive to male rats.
• Infected male rats suddenly become much more attractive to females.
• 75% of female rats would prefer to spend time with an infected male.
Human-Studies
• Personality effects are very subtle in infected humans. If a woman was an introvert before the infection, she could make her a little less introverted.
• Infected humans had significantly delayed reaction times.
• Infected people became less alert and slowed down about a minute after the test. This leads to a concern for traffic accidents.
• Mental illness is two to three times more common in people with the parasite.
• There were sex-specific personality changes
- The infected men were more introverted, suspicious, inclined to ignore the rules, and oblivious to other people’s opinions of them.
- Infected women were more outgoing, confident, image-conscious, and rule-abiding than uninfected women.
- Infected men tended to have fewer friends.
- Infected women tended to have more friends.
- Infected men do not have a normal fear response; and in situations where danger is a factor they feel all-powerful.
- Infected males like the smell of cat urine (compared to the urine of other animals). Again pointing towards the cat.
- Infected women do not like the smell of cat urine.
- Infected men may have elevated testosterone levels.
- Women who were shown images of infected men rated them as more masculine than images of uninfected men.
Other examples in nature
• The rabies virus is another example of how nature finds a way to survive. About to kill a warm-blooded dog, bat, or other host, the rabies virus angers the animal and at the same time passes from the nervous system into the creature’s saliva, thus ensuring that when the host bites, the virus will live in a new carrier.
• It is common to hear that insects are victims of parasitic mind control, mostly ants, caterpillars and wasps. When infected with parasites, many of them behave strangely as a result.
• “There’s a parasitic wasp that grabs an orb spider and sticks a tiny egg in its belly. A worm-like larva emerges from the egg and then releases chemicals that cause the spider to stop spinning the familiar spiral web and instead Instead, it spins its silken thread in a special pattern that will support the cocoon that the larva matures in. The possessed spider even hooks a specific geometric design into the web, camouflaging the cocoon from the wasp’s predators.” Amazing.
• “A flatworm makes its slave of an ant by invading the ant’s nervous system. A drop in temperature normally drives the ants underground, but the infected insect climbs to the top of a blade of grass.” and squeezes it, becoming easy prey for a grazing sheep. The sheep grazes on the grass and eats the ant; the worm manages to enter the intestine, which is exactly where it needs to be to complete its life cycle.” This story was the first of its kind that Flegr heard.
Potentially Positive Medical Research
This research could lead to studies on how to deal with PTSD, anxiety and phobias, by discovering how the parasite makes a person less fearful.
How can we prevent them?
During the time your outdoor cat is learning to hunt, assume the parasite is on the cat. Keep everything clean, scrub your vegetables well, and drink purified water. Eat meat on the well-done side or freeze it to kill parasites.
And how do we get rid of them?
Currently, there are no traditional medical solutions for an infection with this parasite. We are only now accepting the fact that a solution is needed due to the size and prevalence of infections. Dr. Hulda Clark has a theory that parasites are the cause of all disease. After reading this article, it seems clear that she was onto something. She created a device to remove parasites, called a zapper. She also provides the frequencies to use to remove them.
Toxoplasma parasites (human strain)
0.68, 0.90, 2.50, 5.50, 13.93, 93.50, 386.40, 388.00, 395.00, 422.00
While not FDA approved for this application, this device is available. No claims can be made, but if you know you have the problem, and can test for the parasite, it might be worth a try. It’s much better than a case of schizophrenia.