HMM: Mind-Altering Cat Parasite Linked to Schizophrenia in Largest Study Yet.

Many scientists are at pains to point out we can’t yet show that the mind-altering cat parasite is actually producing these psychological changes itself – as opposed to merely being associated with them – but while the debate goes on, still more evidence of these alarming coincidences turns up.

In that vein, the new study, led by researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, analysed data from over 80,000 individuals who took part in the Danish Blood Donor Study – a giant cohort, providing the basis for what the team calls the “largest to date serological study” in this area.

In terms of T. gondii, compared to a control group, the blood work revealed individuals with the infection were almost 50 percent more likely (odds ratio 1.47) to be diagnosed with schizophrenia disorders compared to those without an infection.

As the researchers explain, the link became even more evident when they filtered the data to account for ‘temporality’ – which meant only looking at participants who hadn’t yet been diagnosed with schizophrenia when T. gondii was found in their blood.

“The association was even stronger when accounting for temporality and considering only the 28 cases who were diagnosed with a schizophrenia disorder after the date of blood collection,” the authors write.

According to the researchers, this “corroborates that Toxoplasma has a positive effect on the rate of schizophrenia and that T. gondii infection might be a contributing causal factor for schizophrenia.”

While the link between the parasite and schizophrenia has been observed in previous research, the researchers claim their study is the first to examine temporality of pathogen exposure like this.

Maybe we need a vaccine. In the meantime, beware of crazy cat ladies.