toxoplasmosis

n. a disease caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which invades and multiplies within the tissues of mammals and birds. For example, the parasites reproduce in the intestinal cells of cats, and the disease may be transmitted to humans through accidental ingestion (via careless handling) of cat feces. Human infection may also result from eating raw or undercooked meat or, very rarely, from blood transfusion or organ transplantation. When acquired by a pregnant woman, the parasite can be transmitted to the fetus (congenital toxoplasmosis), causing hydrocephalus, blindness, intellectual disability, and other neurological disorders.

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Psychology term of the day

January 15th 2025

Laurence–Moon–Bardet–Biedl syndrome

an autosomal recessive disorder first described in 1866 by British ophthalmologist John Zachariah Laurence (1830–1870) and his colleague, British-born U.S. ophthalmologist Robert C. Moon (1844–1914), in four siblings with progressive visual impairment, obesity, paralysis, and cognitive impairment. In 1920 and 1922, respectively, French physician George Bardet (1885–1970) and Romanian-born Austrian physician Artur Biedl (1869–1933) independently described patients sharing only some of the symptoms seen in the original siblings, plus additional symptoms that they did not exhibit (e.g., polydactyly, impaired speech, hypogonadism). The syndrome was thus divided into two related disorders, Laurence–Moon syndrome and Bardet–Biedl syndrome (BBS). However, because of overlapping phenotypes, it is thought to be one syndrome, with BBS being the term now commonly used to cover both syndromes. Also called Laurence–Moon–Biedl–Bardet syndrome.