[rd42]

T. gondii (Toxoplasma gondii) increases dopamine, it's a parasite found in cat feces. The results can cause schizophrenia. I wonder if it would help with PD?

http://www.stanleyresearch.org/dnn/L...0/Default.aspx

...discovered that this organism increased dopamine level by 34 percent

[Bob Dawson]

Holy oow!
for once i am at a loss for words.

[Conductor71]

Originally Posted by Bob Dawson

Holy oow!
for once i am at a loss for words.

Okay, thanks for putting that in my one song brain playlist for the week. lol.

Rather interesting. How do you suppose they could harness the up side to this so we aren't otherwise implicating ourselves health wise?

I have long thought we need to gather up a few adventurous PWS (schizophrenia) and in our dungeon laboratory hook up some weird looking gizmo that is a cross between an old fashioned beauty salon hair dryer and a Dyson, Then we fill 'er up. There you have it. Two more happy customers.

Don't mean to offend; I am just both silly and pragmatic. Really though, too bad it would be highly unethical a way to make this exchange possible?

Laura

[Bob Dawson]

....and in our dungeon laboratory hook up some weird looking gizmo that is a cross between an old fashioned beauty salon hair dryer and a Dyson, Then we fill 'er up. There you have it. Two more happy customers....

YES! Let's do it
Carl Hernz has a video for this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqsxVRNQago

[paula_w]

It sounds like a perfect dialogue for the ending of The Bucket List 2.

[vlhperry]

I find it interesting. Did you know pregnant women have been advised to cease cleaning out cat litter pans when pregnant because of the possibility of getting this disease? I never considered the reason why. I assumed it would hurt the mother, not the fetus.

Have had cats my whole adult life and cleaned out their litterboxes. Have never gotten the disease. Will have to do some research and find out what the symptoms of the disease are.

Vicky

[vlhperry]

Laura, Bob and Paula,

Your punishment for not researching a fellow members discovery which he shared in good faith, is to eat moldy bread for dinner tonite, (discovery of penicillin.)

Robert's calling attention to the article was sincere. After researching his link, I have found truth in his post. The problem is:

1. 1- A human does usually get the bacteria infection from handling cat feces, and a large percent of the population has it.
   
2. 2- The disease lies dormant because of man's immune system natural ability to keep the bacteria levels down. The body's immune system, if compromised, may cease to fight off the bacteria, which may exist in its human host for years, causing a flare up.
   
3. 3- Pregnant mother's pass the bacteria through the umbilical chord which can cause a likely miscarriage or birth of a baby with a diseased liver or worse,
   
4. 4- Left untreated the liver, after several years, may develop cancer.
   
5. 5- Like the discoverer of pencillion, (Scotsman, Flemming,) gave up figuring out how to mass produce pencillon, and his assistants sollved the mystery, making millions.

I find this topic particularly personal as people with chronic diseases may develop compromised immune systems. My recent bloodtest, taken because I seem to have a skin infection resistant to antibiotics, show C-reactive Protein at 2.1 and my ANA screen to test positive. I will not spell this out to you, if you want to know what these tests results mean, do your own research.

[mrsD]

Oh, this is an interesting thread.

I'd like to point out that Toxoplasmosis is a parasitical disease, caused by a parasite, not a bacteria. It is also capable of causing blindness. It can also attack the brain, and some cats who have this go crazy and become aggressive and have to be destroyed. It is interesting that it is the dopamine that is affected.

Cat Scratch Fever, however is another thing: caused by the bacteria Bartonella.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_scratch_disease

[Bob Dawson]

I have an avoidance mechanism that sets in when they start grouping schizophrenia with Parkinson's. I wonder why that is?

This is wildly new to me:
"….dopamine is the “missing link between schizophrenia and toxoplamosis,” ……Decreased level of psychobiological factor novelty seeking and lower intelligence in men latently infected with the protozoan parasite.."

"…This finding suggests the possibility that the excess dopamine thought to occur in individuals with schizophrenia might be being introduced by T. gondii rather than made by the affected individuals…"

What a list!:::
...parasites, cat feces, dopamine, PD, Schizo, lowering of intelligence in men...

actually it's the parasites from cat feces that freak me out. I don't like the idea of parasites. The rest of that list, well, it seems familiar to me... for some reason..

[paula_w]

A parasite causing schizophrenia is downright frightening...i knew about it being dangerous to pregnant women. Do parasites keep multiplying with new and larger amounts of dopamine? It's like a horror flick. And makes a great case for antibiotic therapy.

i'm also hearing more about fungus and heard one day that it's hard to tell the difference between fungus and cancer.