养猫或引发心理健康问题

If you're prone to sudden bursts of anger, it could be your cat's fault.

如果你发现自己经常会突然大动肝火，那么问题可能出在自家养的猫身上。

A new study has found that people with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) - characterised by explosive bouts of rage - are twice as likely to have been infected by a parasite found in cat faeces.

最新研究发现，间歇爆发性精神障碍（IED）患者（以突发性情绪激动为主要症状）曾经受猫排泄物中寄生虫感染的几率是其他人的两倍。

The findings suggest that toxoplasmosis, an infection from the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, may alter people's brain chemistry to cause long-term behavior problems.

调查结果表明，这种由弓形虫引起的弓形体病，可能会改变人们的大脑化学组成，导致长期的行为问题。

Cats are known to pass the parasite on to human by shedding its eggs in their faeces. People can become infected by not washing their hands after cleaning a cat's litter tray, and then unintentionally ingesting the eggs.

据悉，猫通过排泄物将弓形虫卵传给人类。猫主人如果在洗完猫的粪便托盘后没有及时洗手，就会无意中在手上残留了虫卵，进而感染这种寄生虫。

Around a third of people in the UK will become infected at some point in their lives - with cat owners at particularly high risk.

在英国，大约有三分之一的人会在一生中的某个时刻受到感染，那些家里养猫的人感染风险尤其高。

Toxoplasmosis has also been linked with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, impulsivity and suicidal behavior in earlier studies.

早期有研究表明，弓形体病也与精神分裂症、躁郁症、冲动和自杀行为有关。

The new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, looked at 358 adult participants. Researcher found that 22 percent of the people with IED tested positive for toxoplasmosis exposure, compared with only 9 percent of those without IED.

这项最新研究发表在《临床精神病学杂志》上。通过对参与实验的358名成年人的观察，研究人员发现，患有间歇爆发性精神障碍的受试者中，有22%对弓形体病的检测结果呈阳性，而未患该病的受试者中，检测呈阳性的仅占9%。

"Not everyone that tests positive for toxoplasmosis will have aggression issues," said research leader Dr. Emil Coccaro of the University of Chicago. However, exposure to the parasite does appear to "raise the risk for aggressive behavior."

埃米尔·科卡罗博士来自芝加哥大学，是该研究的科研组长。他表示，“弓形虫病的检测结果呈阳性并不代表身体一定会出现攻击性问题”。然而，接触此类寄生虫似乎的确会“增加人们出现攻击行为的风险。”

The NHS says that toxoplasmosis is "usually nothing to worry about because the immune system is normally strong enough to fight the infection and stop it from causing serious illness.

英国医疗管理机构（NHS）表示，“通常无需太担心这种弓形虫病，正常情况下人类的免疫系统足以与之抗衡，能阻止它继续引发任何重大疾病。”

"After getting the infection, most people are immune to it for the rest of their life."

“大多数人受到感染后就会终身免疫了。”

However, it can lead to serious problems in women who become infected while they're pregnant, and people with weak immune systems.

不过，如果孕妇或者一些免疫系统较弱的人受到感染，后果则不容小觑。