Having a cat can affect school performance

Along with dogs, cats are the most common pets in France and Europe, to the point where 26% of households in France have a feline. And yet, according to a study by researchers at the University of Iowa whose findings were published in Parasitology, the presence of a cat could influence children’s academic performance. If it seems surprising at first, there is actually a good reason for it: feline droppings are thought to be responsible for the disease called toxoplasmosis.

This parasite is vicious since, in addition to settling in brain cells and muscle cells, its presence does not trigger any particular symptoms. And yet, toxoplasmosis would be responsible for a degradation of cognitive faculties in adolescents who nevertheless really need it in order to carry out their studies.

Poorer results on various tests

Scientists studied the health of 1,755 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16. Among them, 135 were infected with toxoplasmosis. The latter would have obtained poorer results on the various reading (-7%) and memorization (-11%) tests. On the other hand, the parasite would have no effect on the exercises of mathematics and calculations. Scientists concluded that toxoplasmosis does not damage the same functions of the brain.

However, research would have made it possible to guess which treatment would be effective in this situation. Indeed, the researchers noticed that the subjects whose vitamin E level was lower had lower results on the various tests. On the other hand, as stated by Angelico Mendy, one of the study’s authors, “clinical trials are needed to confirm the effects of Vitamin E in improving the cognitive impairment linked to this parasite”.

The idea of ​​this study is not to encourage people to get rid of their cats, especially since felines are not the primary cause of infection with this parasite. Eating raw meat is, for example, contraindicated. Moreover, it is quite possible to spend a whole life infected without the slightest symptoms appearing. It would affect one in three people around the world.