5 ms·

I've owned cats for awhile, and the idea of a cat parasite controlling or influencing my behavior (and the behavior of others) is both fascinating and frighteni

I've owned cats for awhile, and the idea of a cat parasite controlling or influencing my behavior (and the behavior of others) is both fascinating and frightening. Plus, parasites are generally a bad thing, and there is not enough awareness about Toxoplasmosis.

manarth 10y ago
> "parasites are generally a bad thing" There's some evidence to suggest parasitic infection can prevent or reduce some diseases, such as asthma or Crohn's disease. One study published in an ATS journal concluded: "Parasite infections do not in general protect against asthma, but infection with hookworm may reduce the risk of this disease" [1] [1] http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.200603-331OC#.V7sSRI7UWfg http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.200603-331O...
- throwanem 10y ago
  I mean great, but you still have hookworm. It may well be worthwhile to identify and isolate what about having hookworm might be preventative for asthma and develop it into a therapy, but that's not quite the same thing.
randomThoughts9 10y ago
>the idea of a cat parasite controlling or influencing my behavior (and the behavior of others) is both fascinating and frightening wait until we'll know everything our own gut bacteria is doing to us
throwanem 10y ago
Well, one commonly accepted effect of toxoplasmosis is an increased fondness for cats, and it's not hard to construct an argument that, at least in relation to modern humans, most cats pretty much are parasites. So maybe you want to think about getting serotyped, is what I'm saying here.
Kristine1975 10y ago
> and the idea of a cat parasite controlling or influencing my behavior (and the behavior of others) is both fascinating and frightening. More frightening than the idea of a cat controlling or influencing your behavior (by being oh so adorable)? ;-)

5 ms·

I've owned cats for awhile, and the idea of a cat parasite controlling or influencing my behavior (and the behavior of others) is both fascinating and frighteni

by wodencafe 10y ago

manarth 10y ago
> "parasites are generally a bad thing" There's some evidence to suggest parasitic infection can prevent or reduce some diseases, such as asthma or Crohn's disease. One study published in an ATS journal concluded: "Parasite infections do not in general protect against asthma, but infection with hookworm may reduce the risk of this disease" [1] [1] http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.200603-331OC#.V7sSRI7UWfg http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.200603-331O...
- throwanem 10y ago
  I mean great, but you still have hookworm. It may well be worthwhile to identify and isolate what about having hookworm might be preventative for asthma and develop it into a therapy, but that's not quite the same thing.
randomThoughts9 10y ago
>the idea of a cat parasite controlling or influencing my behavior (and the behavior of others) is both fascinating and frightening wait until we'll know everything our own gut bacteria is doing to us
throwanem 10y ago
Well, one commonly accepted effect of toxoplasmosis is an increased fondness for cats, and it's not hard to construct an argument that, at least in relation to modern humans, most cats pretty much are parasites. So maybe you want to think about getting serotyped, is what I'm saying here.
Kristine1975 10y ago
> and the idea of a cat parasite controlling or influencing my behavior (and the behavior of others) is both fascinating and frightening. More frightening than the idea of a cat controlling or influencing your behavior (by being oh so adorable)? ;-)