A common parasite has spread through undercooked pork, and occasionally our cats could have more insidious health effects than previously suspected. New research suggests a link between infection with Toxoplasma gondii and an increased risk of brain cancer. However, at this time, scientists are not yet sure if there is a direct cause-and-effect relationship and the overall risk of brain cancer is still very low.
T. gondii It is known for his mind-altering tricks on rodents, one of their natural intermediate hosts. In these animals, single-celled parasites cause them to become reckless in the face of danger, causing them to avoid the smell of cat urine. RodenTs – and their parasites – are then more likely to be swallowed by a feline, allowing the parasites to reach their main cat host and reach maturity. Then they reproduce and create a new generation of eggs that are taken out of the cat in the environment, starting again the terrible life cycle. People are an unhappy spectator in all this, becoming infected either by close contact with cat poop or by eating meat (usually pork) contaminated with T. gondii cysts.
Acute T. gondii infections in humans it can be severe for those with a weakened immune system or for newborns who have contracted it in the womb. In most people, however, an acute infection does not cause symptoms, while a few may develop mild, flu-like symptoms for several weeks.
Historically, these acute symptoms have been considered to be the measure of the harm that T. gondii it can provoke us. But more recently, scientists have found one intriguing connection between the parasite and the subtle neurological effects in humans, helped by the fact that cysts can survive quietly in the body, including the brain, for decades. Chronic T. gondii infections were associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia, decreased cognition, and behavioral changes, such as increased risk and aggression. This new study, published into the International Journal of Cancer, indicates that certain types of brain cancer should be added to the list above.
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The researchers looked at data from research projects that track people’s health over time, including a long-running study on cancer prevention led by the American Cancer Society. They focused especially on people who were later found to have gliomas, the most common form of brain cancer. As part of their initial examination, volunteers provided blood samples that were tested for antibodies to various germs, including T. gondii.
When the researchers compared people who eventually developed gliomas in these studies with similar people who did not, they found that the glioma group was more likely to have gliomas. T. gondii antibodies. In general, the presence T. gondii was associated with more than an increased risk of double glioma. In people with the highest levels of a certain type of antibody against T. gondii, the associated risk was more than three times higher. Approximately 350 people with a glioma were studied, including people over the age of 70 and under the age of 40, with similar associated risks observed in both age groups.
Other studies have found a similar connection between T. gondii and brain cancer. However, according to the authors, theirs is the first evidence of what is known as prospective research, which is when people are observed before developing the condition that is being studied. This is important because scientists can clearly know that A – in this case, T. gondii infection – happens before work B – brain cancer. That alone cannot prove it T. gondii it helps cause brain cancer, but the evidence makes the connection more likely to be real.
The findings suggest that people with higher exposure to T. gondii the parasite is more likely to continue to develop glioma, “said study author Anna Coghill, a researcher at the Moffitt Cancer Center. statement launched by the American Cancer Society. However, it should be noted that the absolute risk of being diagnosed with glioma remains low, and these findings need to be replicated in a larger and more diverse group of individuals.
There are about 24,000 new cases of brain cancer estimate to occur annually in the US, accounting for about 1% of all cancers. Meanwhile, it is believed that 11% of American over the age of six wears T. gondii, so over 30 million people. This means that even if this connection is real, the chances of getting brain cancer as a result of chronicity T. gondii the infection is very low on an individual level. Likewise, not everyone who develops glioma will have it T. gondii, and there are people with T. gondii who would have had brain cancer even if the infection had never happened – the risk of cancer is complicated like this.
However, this is the latest research study that suggests that hidden infections in the body and brain can affect our health long after their arrival.