Thousands may have human form of mad cow disease

LONDON (AFP) - Some 3,800 people in Britain could be harbouring the human form of mad cow disease without knowing it, government-funded research suggests.

Scientists who examined 12,674 stored appendix and tonsil samples said they had identified three bearing signs of the agent that causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Applying their findings to the entire population of the United Kingdom, which is 60 million, they estimated that about 3,800 people would test positive for the illness.

Some 141 people are known to have died in Britain from vCJD, a spongy deterioration of the brain causing personality change, loss of body function, and eventually death.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040521/wl_uk_afp/health_britain_madcow_040521095600

How many people live in the US again? 350 million?

And of course, the damned thing takes at least ten years to even begin to show up.

:(

like having a big steak.

I don't think the US Government is doing a good job in checking our food supply. Who knows how many cows with mad cow disease we have consumed already.

Trust Corporate interests at your own peril.

in my opinion. My husband's aunt died from vCJD in 1994 and he is prohibited from donating blood now!! Which would lead one to say, WTF?

60,000 would be .1 percent
6,000 would be .01 percent
3,000 would be .005 percent.

How many of those 60 million people eat beef on a regular basis? I think a lot more than that.

And how many people had CJD before the "mad cow" thing started happening? It's not a new disease, you know, just a rare one.

In 1994 the doctors told us the disease could have been in her system for 20-30 years. So she may have been infected in 1964!! The literature they gave us stated that beef, lamb, organs and oysters were suspected.

With all of the fast food joints out there and the popularity of burgers, my guess is many more than 600,000 could be infected.

The doctors said it was rare, but how many have been misdiagnosed over the years. The hospitals have to throw away any surgical instruments that are used!

Since no one related by blood can donate now, does that mean they suspect the disease could be transmitted through the generations? Scary.

Your husband's aunt was diagnosed with Creutzfeld-Jakob, as I gather from your posts. How was this done? Is there a blood test?

My dad died recently from Alzheimer's disease, which as far as I can tell has identical symptoms.

I've always wondered if my dad and all the people diagnosed with Alzheimer's are in fact victims of vCJD instead.

The neurosurgeon had to drill a hole in the skull and extract some brain tissue. This was the only way they could diagnose it in 1994.

I don't know about current methods. We were all desperate to know what was wrong with her that my husband's uncle gave permission for the surgery.

Thankfully, she didn't suffer long, but she was only 65 years old and we all can't get over that this "rare" disease had to strike her.

I think you are right too...I think there is something suspicious about Alzheimer's.

Brain tissue examination is the only proof.

My dad was a cattle farmer and livestock inseminator all his life, so he had more bovine contact than anyone I know of.

I'm glad your husband's aunt didn't suffer long. Thanks again.

Squirrel Brains May Be Unsafe

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Squirrel brains are a lip-smacking memory for Janet Norris Gates. They were the choicest morsels of the game her father once hunted in Tennessee. ``In our family, we saw it as a prized piece of meat, and if he shared it with you, you were pretty happy. Not that he was stingy,'' said Mrs. Gates, an oral historian in Frankfort, ``but there's just not much of a squirrel brain.'' Now, some people might want to think twice about eating squirrel brains, a backwoods Southern delicacy.

Two Kentucky doctors last month reported a possible link between eating squirrel brains and the rare and deadly human variety of mad-cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, thought to strike one person in 1 million, produces holes in the brain. Symptoms include loss of muscle control and dementia. It may take years, even decades, for symptoms to appear.
Dr. Eric Weisman, a behavioral neurologist who practices in rural western Kentucky, reported in the distinguished British medical journal The Lancet that he has treated 11 people for Creutzfeldt-Jakob in four years, and all had eaten squirrel brains at some time. Six of the victims, ranging in age from 56 to 78, have died.
The normal incidence of the disease in the area should be one case in about 10 years, he said.


http://www.greysquirrel.net/brain.html

not to mention the entire executive and most of the judicial branch of the government.

:puke:

Are those the same folks who eat Armadillos?

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! MOOOOOOOO!!!!! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
MOO! MOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! MOOOOOOOOOO!!!! MOOO! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

"Gotcha!"

WHY IS THE INCIDENCE OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE INCREASING SO RAPIDLY?

WHY ARE THERE NO RECORDS OF PLAQUE-FORMING NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES BEFORE 1875?

THE CURRENT HIGH INCIDENCE OF ALZHEIMER'S AND OTHER NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES CAN BE DIRECTLY LINKED TO THE MODERN PRACTICE OF MEAT PROCESSING

DYING FOR A HAMBURGER
HOW MODERN MEAT-PACKING LED TO AN EPIDEMIC OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

http://www.thebukowskiagency.com/DyingForAHamburger.htm

Not encouraging.

I suspect one reason plaque-forming neurological diseases were rare before 1875 is because Alzheimer's is primarily a disease of the aged and people just didn't live as long then as they do now. Also, Alzheimer's wasn't identified until about 100 years ago, so if someone presented with those symptoms before then, they were just considered "senile."

www.alz.org

To the author, he refutes the claim that people did not live to an age where the disease would become evident. He goes back a few hundred years.
If one survived to thirty then one could expect to live quite longer than the average numbers. CJD takes probably 20 years to become evident.

Senile used to mean old, not mentally incapacitated. The author refers to old dictionaries for a definition of senile over 100 years ago.

I can't find flaw in his basis nor the evidence that he presents.

And diagnosing better.

Not to entirely dismiss your concerns; still the ALL CAPS routine doesn't exactly lend credibility, either.

you don't have anything to say but that you noticed they used all CAPS?
..not to "dismiss" your observation all CAPS but I have to say
that observation makes YOU a true deep thinker with lots to share !!