[PenultimateManStanding]

Almost half the human population of the earth has this parasite. It is a very bizarre parasite that can only breed in cat guts. It gets into other mammals though and influences behavior in strange ways. When mice and rats are infected it settles in the brain and makes the rodents fearless of cats, which is an evolutionary adaptation insuring that the rodents get eaten and thus allowing the parasite to breed inside the cats. It also has peculiar effects on humans.
This is a startling reminder that single-celled organisms have been around a lot longer than us and they will win in the end.

[threadbear]

It's one of my favorite subjects, PMS

"Parasite Rex is one of those books that change the way you see the world. On one scale, each of us is an ecosystem with an unsuspected complement of passengers. On another, if you view the Earth as an organism, there's a real sense in which we are its parasites--and we could learn a lot from the lowly tapeworm about sustainable exploitation"

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... i_81790194

[OilIsMastery]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'T')his is a startling reminder that single-celled organisms have been around a lot longer than us and they will win in the end.

[denverdave]

According to the wikipedia article, it has been linked to schizophrenia and paranoia in humans, and also can change the proportion of male to female births by a factor of 0.72, resulting in 260 baby boys for every 100 baby girls. So not only would men have to compete more fiercely for women, but they would be schizophrenic and paranoid as well

[PenultimateManStanding]

The thing that astonishes me is that this single-celled organism can infect a mouse brain and control it so that normal self-preservation instincts can be nullified and even reversed!

[threadbear]

Fungus can affect the brain, at least in insects, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOQ0VU24xw


Carl Zimmer:

A year later, Torrey and his colleagues discovered one more fascinating link. They raised human cells in Petri dishes and infected them with Toxoplasma. Then they dosed the cells with a variety of drugs used to treat schizophrenia. Several of the drugs--most notably haloperidol--blocked the growth of the parasite.

http://www.corante.com/loom/archives/20 ... asters.php

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', ' ')
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOQ0VU24xw

[threadbear]

Oh PMS, I've got lots of parasite stuff. My brother and I swap bizarre parasite info back and forth. Strange hobby, huh?

hijacking snail's brains: (This one is far weirder)

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

[eastbay]

Something's not 100% right about some of you here.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'S')omething's not 100% right about some of you here.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'S')omething's not 100% right about some of you here.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'O')nce they’ve returned into a human home, they open up a franchise in the family business - Wreaking Havoc. Filaria often lodge in the body’s lymphatic system, where they can inflict any number of torturous symptoms, not the least which involves carting your genitals off to the elephantiasis clinic in a wheelbarrow.

[eastbay]

What's wrong with some of you anyhow?

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'S')omething's not 100% right about some of you here.

[eastbay]

PMS. It was a double posting. I edited it. I have no cats. No dogs. We're thinking of getting a farm cat that will remain outdoors and guard the veggies. We took quite a hit this year on our carrots from small burrowing mammals.

Oh, did I tell you I went to quite a few different Starbucks while in Asia?

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '
')Oh, did I tell you I went to quite a few different Starbucks while in Asia?

[lotrfan55345]

I want to get tested.

[turtleT]

This is meant as no disrespect but sometimes knowing just a little about a subject can be quite dangerous. Please stop worrying and promoting fear about Toxoplasma. If you want to fear something, fear operating your vehicle.

A lot of people have been exposed and very few ever show any clinical symptoms. The only people that should be very careful are pregnant women that are naive to the organism. In utero exposure is dangerous. So don't clean the litterbox when pregnant and if not pregnant, wash your hands after cleaning the box. That's all you have to do.

By the way, ingesting improperly cooked beef is probably more of a risk in getting the organism than having a cat. So don't blame your poor cat. He's innocent.

[PenultimateManStanding]

I'm not promoting fear, I'm expressing dismay. 40% of humanity has this horrible parasite, including 1 out of 3 Americans. I'm pretty sure this guy has it, as lions are felines. Research shows that the parasite influences the brains of mammals, including humans. It creeps me out.

[turtleT]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')'m not promoting fear, I'm expressing dismay.