mental illness and cat poop........

**Italianangel** · February 9th, 2008, 08:00 PM

Toxoplasma infection increases risk of schizophrenia, study suggests
Toxoplasma gondii parasite, carried by cats and farm animals, may increase the risk of schizophrenia by 40%....[math is wrong in the article which claims 24%/]

How can I prevent toxoplasmosis?

There are several general sanitation and food safety steps you can take to reduce your chances of becoming infected with Toxoplasma.

* Wear gloves when you garden or do anything outdoors that involves handling soil. Cats, which may pass the parasite in their feces, often use gardens and sandboxes as litter boxes. Wash your hands well with soap and water after outdoor activities, especially before you eat or prepare any food.
* When preparing raw meat, wash any cutting boards, sinks, knives, and other utensils that might have touched the raw meat thoroughly with soap and hot water to avoid cross-contaminating other foods. Wash your hands well with soap and water after handling raw meat.
* Cook all meat thoroughly; that is, to an internal temperature of 160° F and until it is no longer pink in the center or until the juices become colorless. Do not taste meat before it is fully cooked.

**tooncesthecat** · February 9th, 2008, 08:07 PM

Is this a slap in tooncesthecat's face? LOL! Seriously, that's good information. I guess I really need to be careful when I go back into my garden this spring.

**wildstang** · February 9th, 2008, 08:12 PM

not only that i have a friend who is on dialysis and the doc said she cannot have any cats around because of a certain disease risk. i know it wasnt schizoprenia that the doctor warned her of, darn i hate not being able to remember it....lol

**JarheadRI** · February 9th, 2008, 09:09 PM

Kids are really susceptiable to this as well. We had to make sure we covered our sandbox because of the nasty cats. Just another reason to exterminate all cats on the planet.

Sorry no offense toons!

**tooncesthecat** · February 9th, 2008, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JarheadRI

Just another reason to exterminate all cats on the planet.

Sorry no offense toons!

**mavgrad99** · February 10th, 2008, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JarheadRI

Kids are really susceptiable to this as well. We had to make sure we covered our sandbox because of the nasty cats. Just another reason to exterminate all cats on the planet.

Sorry no offense toons!

Thats what I have been saying all along... kitten tenders anyone?

**Insex** · February 10th, 2008, 01:16 AM

I can only imagine Gman's response to this...

**mavgrad99** · February 10th, 2008, 01:23 AM

ahh... Gman... alas, I knew him well...

here's what he's become

**Italianangel** · February 10th, 2008, 01:26 AM

hmm, well since humans are the biggest cause of destruction and disease maybe they should be first off the earth before the animals.......
rather see less kids, more cats...........

**mavgrad99** · February 10th, 2008, 01:27 AM

I take it you dont have children?

**tidalwave** · February 10th, 2008, 10:39 AM

Interesting, as I had a cat that was infected with toxoplasma for over 16 years. She was a stray in early life, and had to eat from garbage, which is where she picked up the parasite. It was fairly easy to control, they just gave her some medication at her yearly vet visit. Lo and behold, I'm not infected because I took the simple measure of not handling poop outside of the litter scooper.

I'd be more than suspect about this study for a couple of reasons. First off, scientists still do not know the cause of schizophrenia, and as anyone with basic scientific or economics training will say, correlation != causation. All that was done here is a simple correlation of data. In such a complex disease as schizo, there can be dozens of factors that seem to correlate to a diagnosis (autism and flu shots, anyone?). There are similar studies that point to schizo being linked to environmental factors such as having been raised passive-aggressive manner. That said, I don't think this study is 'junk science', but just don't jump to conclusions without conclusive data.

**tooncesthecat** · February 10th, 2008, 10:47 AM

Could it also be that people with schizophrenia may not be able to take care of their environment and themselves which could lead to more unsanitary conditions? Just a thought...

**JarheadRI** · February 10th, 2008, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Italianangel

hmm, well since humans are the biggest cause of destruction and disease maybe they should be first off the earth before the animals.......
rather see less kids, more cats...........

So you are advocating the eradication of the human race? Hmmmm!!!!

**Italianangel** · February 10th, 2008, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JarheadRI

So you are advocating the eradication of the human race? Hmmmm!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAH, why not! lets see how many people volunteer? Maybe the ones who have touched cat poop........hahahah

**tidalwave** · February 10th, 2008, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tooncesthecat

Could it also be that people with schizophrenia may not be able to take care of their environment and themselves which could lead to more unsanitary conditions? Just a thought...

That's along the lines of what I'm thinking. We could look at the statistics of schizophrenics who are/were homeless. Where do many homeless people get their sustenance?.. Garbage bins from restaurants and homes - the same place where many stray cats feed. Could it be that a population of homeless schizophrenic patients didn't contract tpm from cats, but rather they both contracted it from the same source?

True, the article seems to say that the tpm infection came first, but they even admit that the assumption is far from conclusive.

**wildstang** · February 10th, 2008, 09:25 PM

these scientists sit around scratching there heads and picking there noses speculating about how things evolved and such and they really dont have the slightest idea what really took place. most of what they base there findings off of is speculation. true there is a little bit of science involved but that isnt the answer for everything.