Researchers at the Finnish University of Turku found that people with toxoplasmosis are more beautiful. The results of the research have been published magazine Peer J Brain, Cognition and Mental Health.
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease in humans and other animals caused by Toxoplasma gondii and characterized by damage to the nervous and lymphatic systems, eyes, skeletal muscles, myocardium and other organs. In the vast majority of cases, the disease is asymptomatic. Up to half of the world’s population is infected with toxoplasmosis, in Russia about 20% of the population are carriers.
Scientists have long noticed that male mice infected with Toxoplasma are particularly popular with females compared to healthy individuals. The authors suggested that such an effect could also be observed in humans.
35 infected volunteers and 178 healthy people participated in the experiment conducted by scientists. Facial asymmetry index was higher in the first group than in the second group. Usually people find symmetrical faces beautiful because it indicates good genes.
Then another 200 participants evaluated the photos of all the volunteers. As the results showed, people in the first group were more attractive to them. According to the researchers, this suggests that toxoplasmosis contributes to a healthier appearance.
“Infected males had less facial asymmetry, and in addition infected females had less body weight, higher attractiveness self-esteem. They also had more sexual partners. T. gondii needed changes in the appearance and behavior of the human host to spread between humans,” says the authors. “We believe that might be the case,” he said.