T. gondii can live in a variety of mammals and often infects mice. But to reproduce, it needs to get into a cat's gut. Given cats' role as natural T. gondii hosts, the brain cancer finding naturally raised some concern over whether housecats might pass the parasite to humans, increasing brain cancer risk.
Now, researchers at the University of Oxford led by epidemiologist Vicky Benson have analyzed a national cancer registry in the United Kingdom alongside a cohort of 626,454 middle-age women and found absolutely no link between cat ownership and brain cancer. The scientists reported their results in the journal Biology Letters.
Frederic Thomas of the University of Montreal, one of the researchers on the original T. gondii and brain cancer study, responded to the new findings in the same journal.
"This is an important finding because the popular press is drawn to the headline that pet cats are a health risk to their owners," Thomas and his colleagues wrote. Nevertheless, they said, the finding does not disprove a link between the parasite and brain tumors.
Cat ownership does not strongly increase the risk of T. gondii infection, the researchers wrote. In fact, eating unwashed vegetables and undercooked meat is a much stronger risk factor.
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Written by Stephanie Pappas
Oh Geez...shaking my head and rolling my eyes here. You can also get pregnant making out with a boy if you are wearing a bathing suit...(tic)
ReplyDeleteThe media love stories like cats causing brain cancer. I wish some "researchers" would find real jobs. In the productive world.
ReplyDeleteDon't they have anything else better to do that then to be science idiot and create panic
ReplyDeleteI'm must wondering what the deal is with all these stories, who's behind it?!
ReplyDeleteHello! Thank you for sharing your thoughts about brain tumor research. I am glad to stop by your site and know more about brain tumor research. Keep it up! This is a good read. I will be looking forward to visit your page again and for your other posts as well.
ReplyDeleteHeadache in person under 6 years old may be a possible cause of either brain tumor or hydrocephalus.
We have sponsored several programs at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital designed to expand the number of investigators in the field by supporting researchers in the early stages of their careers as well as seasoned researchers who are working on translational research and/or novel, scientific approaches for which securing funding is often challenging.