Study Shows Link Between Cat Poop and the Cure for Alzeihmer's

It turns out that soiled cat poop may have some surprising benefits. In the future, we may well just see treatments for diseases like Parkinson's centered around, well, cat sh*t.

Toxoplasma gondii is the commonly found parasite in cat feces. It can even be found in a third of the global population as most estimates say. Of all things, it has evolved to go from the digestive tract all the way to our brains. Now, scientists think that it could possibly be the source of new-age treatment for Alzheimer's.

According to a study led by the University of Glasgow, Tel Aviv University, and an international network of researchers, there is promising data on how altered strains of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii can provide therapeutic proteins that could benefit the brain.

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The field of study itself is groundbreaking in a sense that it is the first time we're seeing the use of engineered brain parasites to combat diseases like Alzheimer's and other neurological conditions.

It is said that the parasites could potentially reach across the blood-brain-barrier and cure those dealing with the disease. Researchers claim that they've engineered the parasites to excrete the MeCP2 protein, something that has, in the past, worked for Rett syndrome patients.

Conditions such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson's develop particularly because of protein dysfunction. The team has experimented with mice and has seen decent results.

Although it must be noted that we are perhaps still decades away from such a drug or treatment being developed on a mass scale. Of course, more experiments are expected to come in lieu of the success of the preliminary studies.