Link Between Mad Cow Disease and Human Deaths Questioned (BSE May Not Cause nvCJD)

WebMD ^ | Oct. 11, 2001 | By Salynn Boyles

[torstars]

Here are sequences and links to experimental data showing that vCJD is the same as BSE

http://w3.aces.uiuc.edu/AnSci/BSE/Prion_Species_Comparisons.htm

[Lil'freeper]

Thank you for posting Purdey's link- you beat me to it. Although he'll strike many here as an environmentalist wacko, he's truly an independent researcher. Here are two essays that summarize his thesis: part 1 and part 2. Food for thought at very least.

[night reader]

And keep eating Beef just like Doctor Atkins said to do because Prions probably don't survive the Human digestive tract!

Do they survive a good cooking? I like my beef bloody rare but if medium well is necessary, guess I could change.

[Toskrin]

This article ignores basic knowledge of prion diseases. It is well-documented that prions survive the digestive tract. Kuru is the prime example. They also survive cooking. The variant CJD cases in Britain closely parallel the BSE outbreak. The author is right on one point - the link between meat consumption and transmission of BSE is not strong. But no one has proposed a better alternative means of transmission.

Sporadic CJD and infectious CJD can be distinguished. The initial symptoms are different, the age of onset is different, and the neuropathology is different.

"Variant" CJD is not a new disease. The symptoms of infectious CJD are similar whether it was acquired from eating human brains, from pituitary growth hormone extracts, or in some manner from affected cows.

[hosepipe]

I hear mad cow disease is related to mad democrat disease because of all the bull sperm democrats are impregnated with... pity.. the herd will be ..ugh... culled with election 2004,,,,

[fella]

Mark had a 3 part series on his research into BSE in Acres USA magazine earlier this year. Although the magazine leans to the far left in its politics it does have a tendency to come up with a fairly good amount of useful articles on practical agriculture. You just ave to winnow the chaff out. Their URL is www.acresusa.com .

[rmmcdaniell]

The disease in experimental animals is the same for BSE and vCJD

And? Were talking about folding of proteins here. Have they ruled out a spontaneous conformational change in human proteins so that it resembles the BSE form?

[riri]

Have they ruled out a spontaneous conformational change in human proteins so that it resembles the BSE form?

Maybe some sort of catalyst or enzyme needs to be present?!

[Lil'freeper]

Thank you for that link, too.

[toddst]

Here are sequences and links to experimental data showing that vCJD is the same as BSE.

Thanks for taking time to provide access to the information. We need to understand what we're dealing with so good decisions are made about what's safe to eat.

[Toskrin]

Have they ruled out a spontaneous conformational change in human proteins so that it resembles the BSE form?

A spontaneous conformational change in the PrP protein is one of the main theories of where sporadic CJD comes from. The other is a spontaneous genetic mutation which makes the CJD conformation more likely.

[oldironsides]

You are still worse off when you eat at Chi Chi's and ingest greeen onions from Mexico. 500 sick with hepatitis and 5 or more dead? Veggie lovers create more chaos

[FollowingTheGrace]

Then why do cannibals who eat brains develop kuru?

From article...

"It is unlikely that human beings who eat prions from other species are likely to get infected...

[torstars]

It is unlikely that human beings who eat prions from other species are likely to get infected...

vCJD (in humans) is caused by bovine prions.

[torstars]

Have they ruled out a spontaneous conformational change in human proteins so that it resembles the BSE form?

The genes have been sequenced from patients. All are homozygous for M at position 129. However, it is the bovine prion that causes the disease (based on animal transfer experiments).

[FollowingTheGrace]

vCJD (in humans) is caused by bovine prions.

But that is precisely what the article is challenging. The evidence is thin. One would have expected a growing number of vCJD cases, but they seem to have leveled out the last few years. Perhaps it is the BSE plus something else--a genetic predisposition perhaps or some other combination of mechanisms. I have read some articles linking it to magnesium (or was it manganese :-)--can't remember if too much or too little.

[torstars]

500 sick with hepatitis and 5 or more dead?

3 died from hepatitis from Chi Chi's. vCJD is universally fatal.

[torstars]

The evidence is thin.

The evidence isn't thin. The genes have been sequenced (human, bovine, ovine, and mouse) and the assay for vCJD is quite precise.

The article is just a snow job with a bunch of "what ifs".

[FollowingTheGrace]

I'm not defending the article, just pointing out that there are an awful lot of questions remaining. There does seem to be a connection, but it doesn't totally explain it. Why so few human cases considering how widespread the BSE was? Perhaps this is just the leading edge, but why have they leveled out then?

It's a horrible disease. My mother died this year of possible CJD (not vCJD), but could not be confirmed because no pathologist in the state would do an autopsy.

[scouse]

the molecular signatures of BSE and new variant CJD are virtually identical.

Would this be the same as a piece of coal and a diamond ?