http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—Dr. Anita Koshy sees a common and typically harmless brain parasite as a potential key to unlocking secrets of neurobiology that can be used to intervene in diseases such as Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-brain-parasite-potential-neurobiology-secrets.html Medical research Tue, 11 Jun 2013 08:50:02 EST news290158051 A new discovery about the malaria-related parasite Toxoplasma gondii—which can threaten babies, AIDS patients, the elderly and others with weakened immune function—may help solve the mystery of how this single-celled parasite establishes life-long infections in people. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-proteins-chronic-disease-toxoplasma-infections.html Medical research Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:19:44 EST news284656765 One of the most insidious ways that parasitic diseases such as malaria and toxoplasmosis wreak their havoc is by hijacking their host's natural cellular processes, turning self against self. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University, led by Doron Greenbaum, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pharmacology at Penn, have identified the cell signaling pathway used by these parasites to escape from and destroy their host cells and infect new cells—pointing the way toward possible new strategies to stop these diseases in their tracks. The study appears in Cell, Host and Microbe. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-malaria-parasites-host-cell-basis.html Medical research Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:00:05 EST news277556076 One major cause of illness from food-borne diseases is the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). New insights into how the immune system combats T. gondii are provided in a study published by Cell Press December 13th in the journal Immunity. The findings could lead to the development of long-sought vaccines to protect against T. gondii and related parasites. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-long-sought-vaccines-deadly-parasite-closer.html Immunology Thu, 13 Dec 2012 12:00:11 EST news274620287 (Medical Xpress)—Two groups of researchers have published articles in the journal Biology Letters, suggesting that it's time we stop blaming cats for making people crazy or for a certain type of brain cancer that other researchers have linked to a parasite in cat feces. The first group, with the Tour du Valat research center, say that after looking at all the current research findings they can find no evidence linking cats and brain cancer in people. The second team from Oxford University's Cancer Epidemiology Unit, after conducting what they call the "Million Woman Survey" have found among many other things, that there was no more incidence of brain cancer in women who owned cats than in those who did not. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-blaming-cats-brain-cancer-people.html Cancer Thu, 23 Aug 2012 08:44:58 EST news264930265 A parasite thought to be harmless and found in many people may actually be causing subtle changes in the brain, leading to suicide attempts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-toxoplasma-gondii-parasite-trigger-suicide.html Medical research Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:14:23 EST news264352449 Women infected with the Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasite, which is spread through contact with cat feces or eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables, are at increased risk of attempting suicide, according to a new study of more than 45,000 women in Denmark. A University of Maryland School of Medicine psychiatrist with expertise in suicide neuroimmunology is the senior author of the study, which is being published online today in the Archives of General Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-women-infected-toxoplasma-gondii-suicide.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 02 Jul 2012 16:00:09 EST news260456850 By pairing an intimate knowledge of immune-system function with a deep understanding of statistical physics, a cross-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has arrived at a surprising finding: T cells use a movement strategy to track down parasites that is similar to strategies that predators such as monkeys, sharks and blue-fin tuna use to hunt their prey. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-cells-parasites-animal-predators-prey.html Medical research Sun, 27 May 2012 13:02:18 EST news257319759 Toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is one of the most common parasitic infections in the world. In the U.S. it is estimated that more than 22 percent of the population 12 years and older have been infected with toxoplasma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-parasites-toxoplasmosis.html Medical research Mon, 21 May 2012 05:21:06 EST news256796430 Scientists have identified which strains of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, the cause of toxoplasmosis, are most strongly associated with premature births and severe birth defects in the United States. The researchers used a new blood test developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, to pinpoint T. gondii strains that children acquire from their acutely infected mothers while in the womb. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-links-strains-common-parasite-severe.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:17:36 EST news253466031 The parasite Toxoplasma gondii has some favorable effects on the pathogenesis and progression of a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, reports a Mar. 21 study in the open access journal PLoS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-mice-infected-toxoplasma-gondii-parasite.html Medical research Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:00:08 EST news251557472