Maybe it's not that people with AS like cats . . .

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Admittedly I could be way off on this and I'm certainly no professional.

A recent post about liking the smell of cats got me thinking . . .

-sorry

There's a parasite called toxoplasmos. People usually catch it from cat dirt and it's thought to be harmless except to unborn children who may suffer brain damage or death if their mothers are infected. The protozoa can only sexually reproduce in cats but can be carried by any warm-blooded animal. This disease is weird though. Rats are normally terrified of the smell of cat urine, but when they are infected with the toxoplasmos pathogen they become really attracted to it and hence an easy meal for cats. So more cats get it and so do more rats and so on.

Recently there have been a couple of cases where kids have apparently suddenly developed OCD after exposure to the disease. And I'm pretty sure I might have heard somewhere that people who have anitgens to toxoplasmos are more likely to have car accidents - one theory being that infection increases risk-taking behavior. Could it be that kids who like cats get infected with toxoplasmos and develop AS?


Not likely, since ASD's are known to be caused by genetic factors, but I'll let you draw your own conclusions from my poorly researched and completely unsupported argument.

Incidentally, I really love cats.

Peace and good luck.

That's a really creative theory. I guess to really have an opinion on it, though, we'd need some kind of data to analyze.

i wouldn't think of people having AS as being more prone to risk-taking... quite the opposite, if they're emeshed in their routine and unopen to change in their routine.

dunno though...........

Personally I think the introverted/extroverted theory is a little more correct. However, this is like said above a very creative idea and given some time I may work through it and whip up a pointer or two.

However, since AS has to do with social interaction is can be safely assumed (though definitely not true since I have met someone who has AS and he was VERY extroverted) that most AS are introverted.

Introverted people normally like things that are calm, that don't require a lot of play or extreme external outgoing. This would be typically a cat. While some cats are very demanding with affection, some aren't. Cats are calm, collective. They sleep often, they don't need to go out for walks or have a significant amount of energy put forth to them. You love them, they'll love you. Its a parent/child relationship.

Extroverts like things that are outwardly exciting. They like loudness and the thrills that the external world supplies for them. This would be a dog. They need to be rough housed with, played with, taken on walks, they're sociable and interactive. Its a sibling relationship.

I understand. If I did some research and looked into things while sober and started a new thread with some kind of foundation would that be ok?

Good luck, all.

This is interesting! Note how the protozoan manipulates the behavior of its host and thus increases its chance of getting spread. BTW, if there are only positive and no negative effects for cats, then in cats taxoplasmos would be termed a symbiont rather than a parasite.
I don't think there's a relationship with AS here, AS is strongly hereditary like you said. We can do a test though, i.e. we can all put some pee outside and see if any rats are coming...

I'm AS diagnosed and I love taking risks. In fact, it's the only time I even feel alive. I otherwise feel very cut off from well.. everything.. and am constantly bored. I thrive off the adrennaline rush.

At any rate, that's an interesting theory about cats and toxoplasmos. My parents had five cats when I was born (and they stupidly let them sleep with me). I liked them more than humans, though. My first word was meow. NEVERTHELESS! I still don't believe there's a link in taxoplasmos and AS.

Last edited by Ramsus on 30 Apr 2007, 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

While I do love people thinking outside the box I think you've left its zip code on that one

9/10 for creativity though.

I always liked the smell of cat urnine as a kid. Werid I know.

Don't people usually show signs of AS from a young age, like the toddler years? I doubt toddlers spend too much time smelling cats, if only because they don't usually know how to handle them correctly, so the cats tend to stay away. My family had two cats when I was little, and we have a lot of video footage of those years as well. Aside from occasionally chasing the cats or making a grab for the tail (this is at a really early age, under a year), my brother and I didn't really interact with the cats. We didn't pet them or anything, so I doubt we had the kind of contact with them where we were able to smell them.

I doubt very much toxoplasmosis causes AS, but it may cause schizophrenia -- http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/162/4/767