Cat Bites Are Linked To Depression

Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 15:00 in Health & Medicine

Persian Cat Wikimedia Commons What's the matter--cat bite your hand? After combing through the health records of 1.3 million people over 10 years, researchers found an unusual link between cat bites and depression. More than 41 percent of those who had presented to hospitals with cat bites were also treated for depression at some point. Furthermore, 86 percent of the people that had been both bitten and diagnosed with depression were women. If you are a woman who's been bitten by a cat, there's nearly a 50 percent chance that you will be diagnosed with depression at some point, the study suggests.  Puzzling findings, there. What's going on? The researchers don't know. But they do outline some guesses.  There's possibility that people who are depressed are more likely to own cats to...

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