{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cuddling with a cat or kitten may appear therapeutic, however a brand new examine suggests contact with these animals may have hostile psychological well being results down the street.
Research revealed in Schizophrenia Bulletin discovered that people who find themselves uncovered to cats could have greater than double the possibilities of creating schizophrenia and different comparable psychological issues later in life.
Australian researchers from the University of Queensland carried out a scientific assessment of 17 research carried out in 11 nations between Jan. 1, 1980, and May 30, 2023.
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The examine knowledge was pulled from a number of databases, together with Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science and different publications.
All the research targeted on contributors who owned cats of their first 25 years of life and skilled schizophrenia-related outcomes, in line with the researchers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}} A brand new examine means that being uncovered to cats early in life may have hostile psychological well being results down the street. (iStock)
Schizophrenia is a psychological sickness that impacts a person’s ideas, behaviors and emotions, as outlined by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Psychotic signs can embrace hallucinations, delusions and thought issues.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}} Those with the disorder may also experience cognitive challenges, loss of motivation, withdrawal from social activities, difficulty showing emotions and an overall lack of functioning.
“Based on past studies, there is evidence linking cat ownership and an increased risk of subsequent schizophrenia,” study author Dr. John McGrath, a psychiatrist at Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia, told Fox News Digital.
“We had an open mind, and we reported the published findings.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}} Research published in Schizophrenia Bulletin found that people who own cats may have more than double the chance of developing schizophrenia and other similar mental disorders later in life. (iStock)
Previous research linking cat exposure to schizophrenia risk has focused on Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), a parasite that can cause a feline disease called toxoplasmosis.
Separate studies have identified a “modest to large association” between toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}} The study did have some limitations, McGrath acknowledged.
“While observational epidemiology cannot prove this link, this topic warrants further, more detailed research,” he said.
“I was disappointed that there were not more highly quality — i.e., more rigorous — studies in our review.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}} “Schizophrenia is an incredibly complex disorder, and this study identifies one potential risk factor that needs to be understood in a broader context.”
Schizophrenia is a “poorly understood group of disorders,” McGrath noted.
“We need to invest in more research that looks at potential risk factors. There is much work to be done.”
‘No need to panic’
Dr. Zachary Ginder, a psychological guide and physician of medical psychology at Pine Siskin Consulting, LLC in Riverside, California, was not concerned within the examine however commented on the findings.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}} Schizophrenia is a psychological sickness that impacts a person’s ideas, behaviors and emotions. Psychotic signs can embrace hallucinations, delusions and thought issues. (iStock)
“It is vital to maintain a degree head in consideration of those findings, and there’s no must panic for those who personal a cat and have kids or are eager about beginning a household,” Ginder advised Fox News Digital.
“Schizophrenia is an extremely complicated dysfunction, and this examine identifies one potential danger issue that must be understood in a broader context. It would doubtless be untimely to make robust suggestions about cat possession solely based mostly on these findings.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}} Although a relationship has been established between early-life cat publicity and schizophrenia, Ginder emphasised that this doesn’t essentially point out that publicity causes the dysfunction.
“Much more analysis” is required to raised perceive these relationships — “accounting for a myriad of potential confounding elements and exploring underlying organic mechanisms,” mentioned one psychological guide and physician of medical psychology. (iStock)
“There is quite a bit that we nonetheless don’t know, and you will need to spotlight that not all people who find themselves uncovered to cats or contaminated with the parasite develop psychological well being points, and never all folks with schizophrenia have had cat publicity,” he advised Fox News Digital.
“While this parasite could play a task, it is doubtless a part of a fancy interaction of genetic and environmental elements.”
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Ginder echoed the researchers’ feedback that “much more analysis” is required to raised perceive these relationships — “accounting for a myriad of potential confounding elements and exploring underlying organic mechanisms.”
“These findings simply give us one other piece of an extremely complicated puzzle.”
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