Toxoplasma and Brazilian Transsexuals

[LilyRox]

I was sitting around listening to the Joe Rogan Podcast today and learned about an amazing discovery. This sparked my interest from the start. Personally, I'm very into psychology.

Scientists have came across a parasite that affects the amygdala section of the brain. Recent reports show that about 66% of Brazilians have this due to undernourishment and a high rate of feral cats.

This is where it gets interesting. If you know anything about the amygdala section of the brain one of the things many scientists believe is that it stores your sexual orientation and sexual attraction. This could be why there is such a high number of transsexuals in Brazil. Seeing as this parasite affects the amygdala it's not crazy to think transsexuals may have a greater urge to transition or even affect the brain in a different way.

This is my personal theory on why there is so many transsexuals in Brazil. I do not think the poverty level is valid evidence for the amount of transsexuals.

This parasite also affects aggression and fear as well.


Joe Rogan Podcast



This is not normal. This is CRAZY shit!



Robert Sapolsky

[MacShreach]

Hmmmm. Toxoplasmosis is a very common condition. From the UK NHS site:

"Up to a third of the UK population will have a toxoplasmosis infection at some point in their lives. Once infected, a person is immune from further infection for life." http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Toxopla...roduction.aspx

It can cause psychiatric issues, including depression and elevated suicide risk. It can, like the much more rare toxocara canis parasite, cause blindness by attacking the optic nerve. So yes there are interesting ideas here.

However, given that toxoplasmosis is so common, its function as a vector for transsex and trangender is pretty dubious.

To identify it as a significant factor, you would have to eliminate or at least quantify all the other potentially significant factors, which include congenital ones, such as lack of testosterone during pregnancy, environmental ones such as the culture the individual grows up in and, of course, the sex-drive models proposed by Blanchard et alia.

I'm not trying to put you down, you're smart and you're curious, and I'd encourage you to dig deeper. Are you in school/college/university?

[LilyRox]

Seeing as there is also much higher levels traced in warmer climates of the world it would make sense. People tend to act more aggressive and sexually active in warmer areas of the world. This could be due to toxo.

[LilyRox]

Are you in school/college/university?

Not right now. I have a Associate's Degree in Computer Programming.

[MacShreach]

Seeing as there is also much higher levels traced in warmer climates of the world it would make sense. People tend to act more aggressive and sexually active in warmer areas of the world. This could be due to toxo.

It could also just be because it's warm...I feel sexier in summer...


I think you should do some more digging on this and see where it takes you. Personally I think that the causes of transgender and transsex are extremely complex, and include the ones I already mentioned and also others. But I could be wrong and there's no in principio reason why a parasitic infection might not be a factor. However that doesn't in the slightest prove that it is; if we are going to add this, then evidence (not conjecture) will be required.

Please don't stop though, Lily. There are many academics and scientists who hide behind their qualifications and who routinely dismiss work done by people from other fields. (This argument has been used by behaviourists like Ken Zucker against Lynn Conway, for example.) It's a most pernicious tactic. Anyone can do good research, whether their background is in that field or not. Getting the ducks in a row, proceeding methodically and taking criticism on board are the keys, so keep digging girl and see where it takes you. You might even get to be Doctor Lily, who knows?

Any time you want to bounce ideas, even if I'm not active here, PM me (my account is always active and it's linked to my email) or get me through one of my blogs. You might find Trish and RallyCola helpful too.

[LilyRox]

Yes... Yes I'm sure, there's some kind of correlation between warm climates and Toxo. I remember reading a long time ago that MS causes lymph nodes to be formed around the spinal cord and brain. One thing common among many MS patients is that the heat literally flares up their condition. Patients with minor cases of MS may be perfectly normal, until introduced to the heat...



What does MS have in common with Toxo? Lymph nodes. When Toxo starts forming it creates lymph nodes in the brain.

Hot climates may be required for the parasite to infest. It is possible that perhaps not being introduced to a certain level of heat the parasite goes dormant.

Toxo is actually very common and might explain some of these claims about the heat instead of that global warming is purely the factor behind heat and violence.

I've actually always been interested in science. In college I did a APA argumentative on why human cloning should be pushed to understand how genes work, cells age and the road to immorality. I got an A+.

[LilyRox]

Interesting update in statistics I looked up. Here's a broad view of estimations from countries on transgender statistics. It it wise to remember these are just estimations, the real amount of transsexuals will never be known. The statistics are shocking nonetheless:

Canada

Population: ~35 million

Estimated Transgender People: ~105,000

--------------------

United States

Population: ~314 million

Estimated Transgender People: ~942,000

This is where is gets weird...

In order to compare the United States with Canada I would have to divide down the numbers proportionally...

314 million / 9 = 34.8 million

942,000 / 9 = 104,666

The amount is nearly mirrored with Canada!

After this I was very excited to get the data for Trans Brazil.

--------------------

This data was very hard to find and took a long time to get, but I got it.

Brazil

Population: ~198 million

Estimated Transgender People: ~1,653,299

198 million / 5.7 = ~34.7 million

1,653,299 / 5.7 = ~290,052

--------------------

Amazing research. Some of the best results I've ever gotten for something.

Before anyone says anything I would like to note that in Brazil some people become transvestites at a very young age to make a living, however , I personally think it's unbelievable that the United States and Canada have nearly the same estimated amount when looked at proportionally.

Brazil is nearly triple the amount! Words can not describe how amazed I am by these results. I always knew a good amount of trans came from Brazil, but never this much.

I look forward to my results on Mexico. I expect to see a little more than the United States, but less than Brazil. Possibly around the 140,000-210,000 range when sized with the rest. If it is, I'm in the right direction to proving a heat correlation with Transgender Probability and/or Toxo.

In the time waiting, enjoy this map of the equator.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...th_equator.jpg

[londonpirate]

stick to the day job

[LilyRox]

stick to the day job

No.

Everyone is curious about the world we live in when they're growing up, but there's 2 kinds of people:

1. The person who says "I don't know" and goes on with life accepting everything that people tell them.

2. The person who actually tries to figure it out and change the world forever.

I suppose if we lived in 13th century you would accept that the world is flat as well.

[MDinMD]

Everyone is curious about the world we live in when they're growing up, but there's 2 kinds of people:

1. The person who says "I don't know" and goes on with life accepting everything that people tell them.

2. The person who actually tries to figure it out and change the world forever.

Don't let anybody stop you.