Toxoplasmosis & Behavioral changes

I'm sorry but I don't know much on this so I researched it a bit and found this:

Behavioral changes from toxoplasmosis
It has been found that the parasite has the ability to change the behavior of its host: infected rats and mice are less fearful of cats - in fact, some of the infected rats seek out cat-urine-marked areas. This effect is advantageous to the parasite, which will be able to sexually reproduce if its host is eaten by a cat [10]. The mechanism for this change is not completely understood, but there is evidence that toxoplasmosis infection raises dopamine levels in infected mice.

The findings of behavioral alteration in rats and mice have led some scientists to speculate that toxoplasma may have similar effects in humans, even in the latent phase that had previously been considered asymptomatic. Toxoplasma is one of a number of parasites that may alter their host's behaviour as a part of their life cycle. [11] The behaviors observed, if caused by the parasite, are likely due to infection and low-grade encephalitis, which is marked by the presence of cysts in the brain, which may produce or induce production of a neurotransmitter, possibly dopamine, [12] therefore acting similarly to dopamine reuptake inhibitor type antidepressants and stimulants.

"In populations where this parasite is very common, mass personality modification could result in cultural change. [Variations in the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii] may explain a substantial proportion of human population differences we see in cultural aspects that relate to ego, money, material possessions, work and rules." — Kevin Lafferty [13]

Correlations have been found between latent Toxoplasma infections and various characteristics: [14]

Increased risk taking behavior
Slower reactions
Feelings of insecurity and self-doubt
Neuroticism (one of the Big Five personality traits)
The evidence for behavioral effects on humans, although intriguing, is relatively weak. There have been no randomized clinical trials studying the effects of toxoplasma on human behavior. Although some researchers have found potentially important associations with toxoplasma, it is possible that these associations merely reflect factors that predispose certain types of people to infection (e.g., people who exhibit risk-taking behaviors may be more likely to take the risk of eating undercooked meat).

Studies have found that toxoplasmosis is associated with an increased car accident rate, roughly doubling or tripling the chance of an accident relative to uninfected people.[12] [15] This may be due to the slowed reaction times that are associated with infection.[15] "If our data are true then about a million people a year die just because they are infected with toxoplasma," the researcher Jaroslav Flegr told The Guardian. [16] The data shows that the risk decreases with time after infection, but is not due to age.[12] Ruth Gilbert, medical coordinator of the European Multicentre Study on Congenital Toxoplasmosis, told BBC News Online these findings could be due to chance, or due to social and cultural factors associated with toxoplasma infection. [17]

Other studies suggest that the parasite may influence personality. There are claims of toxoplasma causing antisocial attitudes in men and promiscuity [18] (or even "signs of higher intelligence" [19] ) in women, and greater susceptibility to schizophrenia and manic Depression in all infected persons.[18] A 2004 study found that toxoplasma "probably induce[s] a decrease of novelty seeking." [20]

According to Sydney University of Technology infectious disease researcher Nicky Boulter in an article that appeared in the January/February 2007 edition of Australasian Science magazine, Toxoplasma infections lead to changes depending on the sex of the infected person. [21]

The study suggests that male carriers have lower IQs, a tendency to achieve a lower level of education and have shorter attention spans, a greater likelihood of breaking rules and taking risks, and are more independent, anti-social, suspicious, jealous and morose. It also suggests that these men are deemed less attractive to women. Women carriers are suggested to be more outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and are considered more attractive to men compared with non-infected controls.


[edit] Toxoplasma's role in schizophrenia
The possibility that toxoplasmosis is one cause of schizophrenia has been studied by scientists since at least 1953. [22] These studies had attracted little attention from U.S. researchers until they were publicized through the work of prominent psychiatrist and advocate E. Fuller Torrey. In 2003, Torrey published a review of this literature, reporting that almost all the studies had found that schizophrenics have elevated rates of toxoplasma infection.[22] A 2006 paper has even suggested that prevalence of toxoplasmosis has large-scale effects on national culture. [23] These types of studies are suggestive but cannot confirm a causal relationship (because of the possibility, for example, that schizophrenia increases the likelihood of toxoplasma infection rather than the other way around).[22]

Acute Toxoplasma infection sometimes leads to psychotic symptoms not unlike schizophrenia.
Some anti-psychotic medications that are used to treat schizophrenia, such as Haloperidol, also stop the growth of Toxoplasma in cell cultures.
Several studies have found significantly higher levels of Toxoplasma antibodies in schizophrenia patients compared to the general population.[24]
Toxoplasma infection causes damage to astrocytes in the brain, and such damage is also seen in schizophrenia.

[edit] Human prevalence
The U.S. NHANES (2004-2005) national probability sample found that 33.1% of U.S. persons above 12 years of age had Toxoplasma-specific IgG antibodies, indicating that they had been infected with the organism. This prevalence has significantly increased from the 1999-2000 data.[25]

It is estimated that between 30% and 65% of all people worldwide are infected with Toxoplasmosis. However, there is large variation countries: in France, for example, around 88% of the population are carriers, probably due to a high consumption of raw and lightly cooked meat. [26] Germany, the Netherlands and Brazil also have high prevalences of around 80%, over 80% [27] and 67% respectively. In Britain, about 22% are carriers, and South Korea's rate is only 4.3%.[14]

Two risk factors for contracting toxoplasmosis are:

Infants born to mothers who became infected with Toxoplasma for the first time during or just before pregnancy.
Persons with severely weakened immune systems, such as those with AIDS. Illness may result from an acute Toxoplasma infection or reactivation of an infection that occurred earlier in life.

[edit] Animal prevalence
A University of California, Davis study of dead sea otters collected from 1998 to 2004 found that toxoplasmosis was the cause of death for 13% of the animals.[28] Proximity to freshwater outflows into the ocean were a major risk factor. Ingestion of oocysts from cat feces is considered to be the most likely ultimate source.[29]


[edit] Notable people with toxoplasmosis
Louis Wain was a prominent cat artist who later developed schizophrenia, which some believe was due to toxoplasmosis resulting from his prolonged exposure to cats.[citation needed]

Link to website:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis


If you are certain that you have this condition then perhaps a doctor can prescribe one of these drugs:

[edit] Treatment
Treatment is often only recommended for people with serious health problems, because the disease is most serious when one's immune system is weak.

Medications that are prescribed for acute Toxoplasmosis are:

Pyrimethamine - an antimalarial medication.
Sulfadiazine - an Antibiotic used in combination with pyrimethamine to treat toxoplasmosis.
clindamycin — an antibiotic. This is used most often for people with HIV/AIDS.
spiramycin - another antibiotic. This is used most often for pregnant women to prevent the infection of their child.
In people with latent toxoplasmosis, the cysts are immune to these treatments, as the Antibiotics do not reach the bradyzoites in sufficient concentration.

Medications that are prescribed for latent Toxoplasmosis are:

atovaquone - an Antibiotic that has been used to kill Toxoplasma cysts in situ in AIDS patients. [7]
clindamycin - an Antibiotic which, in combination with atovaquone, seemed to optimally kill cysts in mice.[8]

Speedy