What do epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer have in common? According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these conditions are linked to a parasite found in cat feces. Unfortunately, the parasite toxoplasma gondii has infected 11% of the US population.
Now for the good news, people with a strong immune system shouldn't worry about the parasite. Clinical tests show that a healthy immune system remains unaffected by the T. gondii.
Still, it's important to reduce exposure to the parasite as it can affect the eyes, brain, and major organs. T. gondii infection is linked with various neurological disorders including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that a parasite found in 11% of the American population has been linked to alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and cancer.
One third of the world’s population is infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Researchers say that the toxic parasite affects 11% of the U.S. population aged 6 years and over.
Genengnews.com reports: Researchers from 16 institutions across the U.S., Canada, England, Scotland, and Australia have now analyzed genetic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data from infected individuals, and from studies in cell cultures, to link T. gondii infection with a number of brain disorders, including epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and even some cancers. “This study is a paradigm shifter,” stated co-author Dennis Steindler, Ph.D., director of the Neuroscience and Aging Lab at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. “We now have to insert infectious disease into the equation of neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy, and neural cancers. At the same time, we have to translate aspects of this study into preventive treatments that include everything from drugs to diet to lifestyle, in order to delay disease onset and progression.”
Image courtesy of: jurvetson
