(3-8-19) Could we be ignoring a likely cause of schizophrenia?
For the past two decades, Dr. E. Fuller Torrey has argued that we have. More than eight years ago, in an article entitled The Insanity Virus, he argued that schizophrenia does not begin as a psychological disease but as an infection.
Now new research led by the Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark suggests that a parasite may, in fact, be a “contributing causal factor for schizophrenia.” The study—the largest of its kind—was published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity.
The study contradicts one done in 2017 that found no link between cats and mental illnesses.
Since 1990 the Stanley Medical Research Institute, that Dr. Torrey founded with funds from philanthropists Ted and Vada Stanley, supported research and treatment trials to find better mental health medications. Dr. Torrey looked in areas where others didn’t.
The Institute funded numerous research studies overseas and more than 300 trials. The deaths of the Stanleys, unfortunately, has caused the Institute to reduce its spending. The pharmaceutical industry also has significantly reduced its support of research and treatment trials for schizophrenia, leaving only the National Institute of Mental Health to investigate schizophrenia. Dr. Torrey has criticized its director for scaling back those trials and focusing only on traditional assumptions.
Which makes one ask: who will look outside the box?
Massive study links mind-altering cat parasite to schizophrenia
Reported by Fiza Pirani, in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
More than 40 million people in the United States may be infected with the single-celled cat-borne parasite Toxoplasma gondii, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The infection typically occurs by eating or handling undercooked, contaminated meat or shellfish; drinking contaminated water or accidentally swallowing the parasite through contact with cat feces.
Most infected individuals don’t have symptoms, but pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems are at heightened risk of a flu-like illness or serious eye and brain damage. Prenatal infection may also cause abortion or a congenital syndrome involving seizures and intellectual disability.
While very few infected individuals are known to experience the physiological symptoms associated with a Toxoplasma infection, some studies have found the parasite can alter the psychological behavior of mice and possibly, alter human cognition.
In 2012, a study of more than 45,000 Danish women found those infected with T. gondii were 1.5 times more likely to attempt suicide than uninfected women. Other studies have argued against any “overblown” psychological fears.
