Study links cat litter box to increased suicide risk

[Hum]

A common parasite that can lurk in the cat litter box may cause undetected brain changes in women that make them more prone to suicide, according to an international study.

Scientists have long known that pregnant women infected with the toxoplasma gondii parasite -- spread through cat feces, undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables -- could risk still birth or brain damage if transmitted to an unborn infant.

But a new study of more than 45,000 women in Denmark shows changes in their own brains after being infected by the common parasite.

The study, authored by University of Maryland School of Medicine psychiatrist and suicide neuroimmunology expert Dr. Teodor T. Postolache, was published online today in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

The study found that women infected with T. gondii were one and a half times more likely to attempt suicide than those who were not infected. As the level of antibodies in the blood rose, so did the suicide risk. The relative risk was even higher for violent suicide attempts.

"We can't say with certainty that T. gondii caused the women to try to kill themselves, but we did find a predictive association between the infection and suicide attempts later in life that warrants additional studies," said Postolache, who is director of the university's Mood and Anxiety Program and is a senior consultant on suicide prevention.

Suicide is a global public health problem. An estimated 10 million attempt suicide and 1 million are successful, according to Postlache's work.

More than 60 million men, women, and children in the United States carry the toxoplasma parasite, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but very few have symptoms.

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[jnelsoninjax]

Quick ban the litter boxes! Or better yet, prohibit women from cleaning it! :D (Mine refuses to clean the cat box also, now I know why!)

[Glassed Silver]

No day without another depressing health headline...

Geez... Nothing is safe, we should all move back into the woodworks and die from known and trusted sources of infection :laugh:

Glassed Silver:mac

[Growled Member]

Don't say that or someone will suggest it.

[Hum]

Why don't those women wash their hands after they are done playing in the cat litter box ? :p

[Rippleman]

Or could it be, girls (or people) that have the suicidal glitch prone to having cats which would obviously increase their chance of having a litter box?

[Hum]

^ Good question -- shows that you are thinking.

I personally feel more positive with cats around. :laugh: :cat:

(Yes, I like other animals too.)

[Luis Mazza]

This is BS, because it is estimated that 70% of the world's population is infected by that parasite. So it is obvious that most women with suicide behavior are naturally infected with the parasite. :rofl:

[Hum]

^ Stop making sense. ;)

[Detection]

Or could it be, girls (or people) that have the suicidal glitch prone to having cats which would obviously increase their chance of having a litter box?

Or maybe cats are more intelligent than we give them credit for, and they have discovered a way to commit the purrrfect crime...... a murder that looks like a suicide...

dum dum duuuuuum

[Charisma Veteran]

Or maybe the stereotype is true... people who are foreveralone get cats, and eventually commit suicide because of that, and the cat/litter box had little to do with it.

That being said, I'm in the foreveralone cat-loving group myself, so... bring flowers to the funeral please! Ha.

[Hum]

Or maybe the ancient Egyptians placed a curse in the cats ... :shiftyninja: