Brave as lions

Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by a protozoan capable of infecting virtually any warm-blooded animal, but only reproduces sexually in the intestine of cats and other felines. According to statistics about 20% of the Catalan population has passed the disease unknowingly because symptoms are similar to flu. Basically it is taken from the consumption of raw meat infected. A blood analysis allows to detect if someone has gone toxoplasmosis because antibodies are preserved throughout life. However, a relatively recent discoveries suggest that toxoplasma survives entrenched in muscles and / or the brain of infected people and in the case of men increases the level of testosterone, a hormone related to the bravery. The program Quèquicom, with cooperation of APA Clinical Laboratories, conducted a prospective study to analyze the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in a group of brave men who practice risk activities, belonging to the group of climbers Mountaineering Technical Centre of Catalonia (CTAC). The prevalence of toxoplasmosis should be higher among this group than among the general population.
Participants are the adventurer Albert Bosch, the veterinarian from UAB Albert Lloret, the Czech evolutionary biologist Jaroslav Flegr, and the head of microbiology at APA Clinical Laboratories Jesus Viguera.