I had to look up toxoplasmosis since it doesn’t actually sound like anything good. In typical 4Chan style he’s confidently used it completely incorrectly
From the CDC website: “Toxoplasmosis is considered to be a leading cause of death attributed to foodborne illness in the United States. More than 40 million men, women, and children in the U.S. carry the Toxoplasma parasite, but very few have symptoms because the immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness. However, women newly infected with Toxoplasma during or shortly before pregnancy and anyone with a compromised immune system should be aware that toxoplasmosis can have severe consequences.
Toxoplasmosis is considered one of the neglected parasitic infections of the United States, a group of five parasitic diseases that have been targeted by CDC for public health action.”
After further reading it also appears the only way you would get it from a cat would be by directly handling their feces…
Yes that is the most common way to get it, but the only way Anon would get it specifically from a cat as he stated in the post would be from the cats feces
Ohh, parasitology is fascinating! I highly recommend it for anyone who likes biology.
My absolute favorite are the tape worms like Taenia solium (pork tapeworm). It’s the type of worm that “ate” a portion of RFK’s brain. It wasn’t really a whole worm but it was probably an egg that he ate in undercooked meat that traveled up his body and calcified in his brain. As Rebecca Watson points out, it’s the leading cause of epilepsy worldwide.
Fun nerd facts: They have a spiky head that clings to the intestine and they absorb nutrients through their tegument (their skin). These fuckers are hermaphroditic with hundreds and hundreds of ovaries and testes within the same worm and the bodies are made of individual worm eggs (proglotids) that share a nervous system. That’s why they come apart so easily, because each proglotid is its own individual worm that can self-inseminate!
Toxoplasmosis is very intriguing, it has actually evolved alongside cats and humans for ages. While anyone with an immunodeficiency is at higher risk of severe side effects, like with any pathogen, it’s also associated with taking bigger risk. This is why a ton of motorcyclists and casino regulars test positive for the parasite. But when we were hunter gatherers, the infection was associated with bringing home bigger kills, which helped the entire tribe. Due to this, toxoplasmosis infections had sizable benefits and those with the infection often had positions of power in tribes!
Here’s one on fatal motorcycle accidents: Increased risk of traffic accidents in subjects with latent toxoplasmosis - a retrospective case-control study www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC117239/
For good measure, here’s one on business owners and the parasite: Risky business - linking Toxoplasma gondii infection and entrepreneurship behaviours across individuals and countries www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6083268/
It’s no picnic, parasites are burly! The Th2 adaptive immune response for worms, our only parasite response, is only good with small initial infections. But since the side effects are relatively mild considering all parasites, it’s not a big area of focus.
Fun fact: The same response for parasites causes allergies. You can never be allergic when it’s your first exposure either. But a less hygenic environment as a kid greatly redices the risk of developing allergies.
Yep! Mast cells are activated when IgE antibodies bind to a mast cell receptor. When IgE then binds to the one object it was designed to find, you get mast cell degranulation. This releases histamines along with a few other chemicals. Degranulation is our immune defense against parasites, so you got a head start for parasite defense for sure! But desensitization can be achieved, which makes IgG antibodies bind to the foreign object before IgE has the chance. I’d think this could be a possible treatment for the syndrome.
Do you also have asthma? The same IgE’s also bind to eosinophil’s. Mast cell degranulation in the lungs leads to acute asthma, whereas when eosinophil’s join the party it causes airway remodeling, aka chronic asthma.
I don’t have asthma. I don’t even think I have any IgE involvement. My total IgE tests at low/normal levels, I don’t seem to have eosinophil involvement that I am aware of. I haven’t even had anaphylaxis before. Though my mast cells constantly degranulate in response to histamine liberators like pepper, chilli, tomato, mustard or triggers like vibrations (shower water on my skin or electric toothbrush), or like laundry scents or perfumes or quick temperature fluctuations or stress or lack of sleep. Gives me maad fatigue, lots of histamine release, blood thinning, etc. Have to avoid triggers and take a bunch of things I found that stabilise mast cells and then I feel good. I have mutations in my methylation and metabolism genes which drains my (acetyl)choline too so probably related somehow.
While there’s no free floating IgE in your system, to degranulate mast cells need IgE bound to their surface. Thats the activation aspect. Since you need mast cells, it’s not exactly something you can turn off. Glad you know the triggers at least, gives you the opportunity to make moves accordingly!
They always need IgE to activate? How does this work for triggers that have no antigen, e.g. vibrations? Is there any way to identify what the mast cell bound IgE are reacting/binding to?
I understand that there are cases where spinal decompression surgery has cured mast cell activation syndrome. It seems to be related to spinal compression in some cases including mine. Any idea how that could possibly be tying in?
Well, in digging into some research papers, I found “mast cell activation can be caused by both IgE-mediated and non–IgE-mediated triggers”.
This is because there can be a mast cell mutation (KIT) which then doesn’t require IgE for activation. You have MMAS and not Mastocytosis, right? The mutation seems to be associated with Mastocytosis based on my understanding from the paper.
Since mast cells aren’t privileged, they’re restricted from entering sites like the brain and spinal cord. So, if they’re in the spinal cord, you almost certainly have bigger problems than mast cell activation I’d think, as the barrier isn’t doing it’s job.
The BIGGEST issue with our understanding of the immune system today is that ALL testing is done on mice. The human body on a chip technology along with the digitization of the immune system together will be a monumental step. Thankfully, it’s literally something we’ll have in the near future. Once that’s available, we’ll have human specific data plus an onslaught of constant information, which we need to help folks with all of the immune system disorders. I’m an autoimmune patient and losing my friends and family to this uncertainty has led me into the field to try and help improve our understanding. There’s legit more we don’t know than we do know about the human immune system right now.
Facinating, I think non-IgE lines up more with my experience. I believe I have MCAS but doctors don’t really do much testing. I have my full genome sequenced at 100x coverage so I’ll check for the mutation mentioned today! Plus any others if you have suggestions
Good on you for being so knowledgeable about the disorder. But 100% ask your doc, being real with my doc has taken our appointments to the next level. The genome is only half of the IgE allergy response, other half is the environment you were raised in as you can build tolerance of it. A high genetic aspect can be countered by a “low hygienic” environment according to research.
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