10-14 FB Cats and Schizophrenia

 Could a parasite spread by cats cause mental illness???The Baltimore Sun reports that scientists from Johns Hopkins University are investigating a link between a common parasite spread by cats and schizophrenia. The researchers say the microbes invade the human brain and appear to upset its chemistry — creating, in some people, the psychotic behaviors recognized as schizophrenia. Schizophrenia - which afflicts about one-percent of the U.S. adult population - is a severely debilitating mental illness characterized by confusion, delusions and hallucinations. Here’s bio-medical research reporter Liz Hodge with a startling statistic. “Scientists say a person infected by this common parasite is more than twice as likely to develop schizophrenia.” Scientists have noticed this parasite is similar to malaria - so they are testing anti-malarial drugs in animals to see if they can effectively kill the parasite.