The Insanity VIrus

For years, psychologists have attributed illnesses like schizophrenia to various causes. From cold and distant mothers, to dysfunctional family relationships, to genes. Now it appears that it may actually be viral in nature. And not, as has been thought in the past, an intruding virus, such as toxoplasmosis for which antibodies are often found in patients with Schizophrenia. No, this virus may actually be a part of us, which has woven itself into the DNA of all of us.

In fact, we carry lots of "hitch hikers" in our DNA,

Th e Insanity Virus

If our DNA were an airplane carry-on bag (and essentially it is), it would be bursting at the seams. We lug around 100,000 retro­virus sequences inside us; all told, genetic parasites related to viruses account for more than 40 percent of all human DNA.

One of these hitchhikers, HERV-W seems to be the culprit in both schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis. It is thought that infection with another virus, such as a herpes virus, or toxoplasma, or even influenza, may trigger a reaction that allows this virus that the body normally keeps under tight control the freedom it needs to produce damaging effects in its host. Which could explain the increased rate of MS and schizophrenia in people born during winter and early spring.

Through this research, a rough account is emerging of how HERV-W could trigger diseases like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and MS. Although the body works hard to keep its ERVs under tight control, infections around the time of birth destabilize this tense standoff. Scribbled onto the marker board in Yolken’s office is a list of infections that are now known to awaken HERV-W—including herpes, toxoplasma, cytomegalovirus, and a dozen others. The HERV-W viruses that pour into the newborn’s blood and brain fluid during these infections contain proteins that may enrage the infant immune system. White blood cells vomit forth inflammatory molecules called cytokines, attracting more immune cells like riot police to a prison break. The scene turns toxic.

If indeed it turns out that there is a viral cause for MS and Schizophrenia, it may open the door for preventatives, in the form of vaccines, and new treatments for sufferers. It does make you wonder, however, what else is lurking in our DNA in the form of one of these retro-viral hitchhikers.

WOW I have lost my mind reading this I cannot beleive that such a thing exist.

inb4the404?

This is pretty insane.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


holy gaucamole

This thread will disappear soon.

Is it still here?

must be insane

What just happened here?

There was no post by the OP. Just empty space.

Now there is a post.


Maybe I have the virus.

S+F.

I see it everywhere.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


Thanks for that interesting article.

So if insanity is a virus does that mean that things like artistic ability and Intelligence are also viruses as the two things so often seems to go hand in hand?

I knew it ZOMBIES freeking zombies,, there's always gotta be damn zombies,, oh opps sorry insane virus,,,,

INSANE ZOMBIES great just what we need lollol

I couldn't bring myself to read all 4 pages but, our DNA carries over 40 percent virus sequences? Would that mean that genetic engineering could possibly remove all the viral counterparts that cause such diseases?

There could be a market for a genetic Virus Scanner, as long as it wasn't made by Norton,

Hopefully, most of those "retro" viruses are behind us. We, as the human race, have already defeated many of those nasty bad viruses via our imune system. However, many viruses that we carry, retro or not, are very important to our health and survival. Many viruses aid us in fighting bacteria and the toxins that they produce.

Viruses are a life form for yet they are not considered alive. They can exist in the vaccum of space and lie dormant for aeons, only to reappear as a new, regenerated self. They truely are "other dimentional" beings, for good or bad, there here!

I do believe that the mental disorders that the OP suggests may be viral, are actually chemical imbalances. I don't know how a virus can cause chemical imbalances as they tend to (the bad ones) confuse the immune system, rather than rewrite our hard wiring. The good ones find a positive symbiousis with its host.

Good virus, good virus. Who's a good virus???????

reply to post by davespanners


Finding out that all that retro viral "junk" in our DNA is actually active, and can awaken and have effects ranging from the physical to mental does open the door for us to question what it means to be "us."

I dont know if you ever saw the study about toxoplasma, but it found that people who were Rh negative, and who were infected with the virus, were more likely to crash their cars, or die in some other accident. The virus itself changes behavior.

The virus has a life cycle in which it travels through several animals. One stage of its life cycle involves rodents and another cats. So it is beneficial to the virus to cause the rodents to act recklessly around cats, so that they are caught and eaten. Interestingly, and creepily, enough, it has a similar effect on humans who are Rh negative. Making them reckless and altering their reaction time, leading to increased deaths in car accidents.

en.wikipedia.org...

"If our data are true then about a million people a year die just because they are infected with Toxoplasma," the researcher Jaroslav Flegr told The Guardian.[32] The data shows that the risk decreases with time after infection, but is not due to age.[26] Ruth Gilbert, medical coordinator of the European Multicentre Study on Congenital Toxoplasmosis, told BBC News Online these findings could be due to chance, or due to social and cultural factors associated with Toxoplasma infection.[33] However there is also evidence of a delayed effect which increases reaction times.[34]

Other studies suggest that the parasite may influence personality. There are claims of Toxoplasma causing antisocial attitudes in men and promiscuity[35] (or even "signs of higher intelligence"[32] ) in women, and greater susceptibility to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in all infected persons.[35] A 2004 study found that Toxoplasma "probably induce[s] a decrease of novelty seeking." [36]

Its kind of eerie to think that some of what we think is just "us" is actually this body being controlled by viruses for their own ends. It makes you wonder if perhaps consciousness itself may not be the result of some infection.

reply to post by Raelsatu


Maybe we could remove all the retroviral stuff from our DNA, but since we have no idea what it does, and how dependent we are upon it, it would be kind of rash to just go in there with a genetic hacksaw. What if it turns out that the "great leap forward" that separates human intelligence and consciousness from that of other animals is nothing more than the result of a retrovirus that got tangled into our DNA?

Double post. I am just not having much posting luck this evening.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


It's certainly amazing to think that it's a possibility that many of the human races achievements could have in some way been caused by a virus

Did Vincent Van Gough (a famous schizophrenic) only paint the way he did because of the influence of a retro virus. It really does make you wonder

Double post
Seems we are both having the same problem

Ok put on your thinking caps,,lets say DNA sequence chains can be activated through a specified wavelenght, that is not visible to the naked eye, but upon activation the naked eye for some is now able to "see" certain objects in a never before way but now is able, due to outside wavelenght attenuation, unique to said indidvidual, said individual who may indeed be able to "see" this new way, is of course mocked and said to be crazy etc,,

Ok take it from their,, think of new bubble at certre of our galaxy, which was newly visible looks like embriotic cell split in my opinion , now since the "plane" is turning into this bubble, what change may we NOT see on the outside but unbeknownst changes have been activated at a DNA level,,

ok there run with it