Mad cow danger may even be bigger

SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE / Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | January 13, 2004 | TODD HARTMAN

[Freebird Forever]

Do you know why?

I'll bite....

Why?

[twigs]

I have a friend whose mother died of CJD some years ago. He will never be allowed to donate blood because the authorities are uncertain about how it is transmitted. Potentially pretty scary stuff. We are still eating beef, but we've decided to only buy hamburger from a butcher we know and trust.

[Freebird Forever]

Then I got me knighthood and he stopped returning my calls.

Since you travel in those circles, perhaps you'd know this.

Is Ozzy much of a meat eater?

Maybe it wasn't the drugs after all.

[alloysteel]

The danger of e. coli contamination is far greater than the possibility that a few stray prions, a form of twisted protein, get into the food chain. Let us look at this logically. Most beef consumed is cooked, which tends to denature protein molecules. Further, when proteins pass through the human digestive system, they are broken down into the constituent amino acids, and do not enter the blood stream as a whole protein, no matter how twisted. Lastly, there is a barrier between the blood and the neurologic tissue, brain and nerve fibers, that filters out any unrecognized organic substances, which is a major factor in homeostatic health.

There may be an unrecognized agent that causes the proteins to twist into the prions which are characteristic of CJD and BSE. We have not yet discovered it. It may be a virus, or some bacterium that is normally considered to be benign, and is only activated under certain combinations of circumstances not yet identified. Or it may be a genetic disorder within certain genotypes that only appears when certain environmental factors are present.

[Destructor]

"My thoughts? Time to become a vegetarian.."

You may not have noticed, but the medical authority quoted in this article identifies himself as a "vegetarian advocate."

[Cardini]

My thoughts? Time to become a vegetarian..


Worst thing you could ever do to yourself.

As far as Mad Cow, you have a greater chance of being hit by an asteroid than contracting the malaise. In a nutshell there is no proof of any kind that you can get MC by eating meat, only Brains & Spinal Cord matter. Even then it is virtually impossible. In closing, enjoy that steak and do not become a veggie. But don't take my word for it, just go to your nearest health food store and look at the people shopping there. 100% chance they will be sickly looking, with pasty spotty skin, unhealthy looking hair & nails. And a veggie will always be sick more that a meat eater. Enjoy!

[Lady Eileen]

bump

[Destructor]

"Given the new research showing that infected beef may be responsible for some (classical) CJD, thousands of Americans may already be dying because of mad cow disease every year," wrote Dr. Michael Greger, a physician and vegan advocate."

[Freebird Forever]

He will never be allowed to donate blood because the authorities are uncertain about how it is transmitted.

I've heard that many Brits are also in that position. And that the blood they use in surgery must be imported.

There's a lot yet to be learned.

[Pinetop]

The statement from the DOA (Dept of AG, not dead on arrival) employee might be explainable by the fact that: 1) the disease has a decades-long incubation period followed by a rapid decline, dementia and death. Therefore, you might be carrying the disease from a burger you had years ago; 2) classic ovo-lacto vegetarianism includes animal products--vegan excludes all animal products, and 3) animal products are in your shoes, soaps, make up, etc.

A footnote to the above is that there is some speculation that the reason there are so few autopsies of dementia deaths is that the disease is communicable by contact with infected tissue and blood.

Speaking of blood, the DOA has still refused to prohibit the feeding of blood to cattle. And, pork is at risk because pigs are slaughtered at age 2-3 before the disease normally manifests.

I am not telling people to become vegans, but I think everyone should be aware of the threat to our food supply. As the article points out the US has not been keeping track of variant CJD deaths or notifying doctors around the country that many of their dementia patients may actually be CJD.

In the words of Clint, "You gonna finish that burger?"

[thedugal]

Most beef consumed is cooked, which tends to denature protein molecules...

Wrong. This is the greatest misconception that people have about mad cow. Cooking will not prevent the disease. Fact of the matter is, whoever decided to feed animal products to cows should be hunted down and shot in the back.

[Zipporah]

.. I was joking..

[Lucky Lyn]

But don't take my word for it, just go to your nearest health food store and look at the people shopping there. 100% chance they will be sickly looking, with pasty spotty skin, unhealthy looking hair & nails.

Could have something to do with 'Mad Bean' diease?

[Freebird Forever]

Or it may be a genetic disorder within certain genotypes that only appears when certain environmental factors are present.

I find that possibility interesting. This last weekend another Freeper mentioned that, IIRC, certain beef animals have shown a genetic resistance to BSE, and that microbiologists are now studying this.

[Faith-Hope]

Unreal!! You have more of a chance of being killed in your car than you ever will by eating a little beef. While we are at it, have you ever been to a Chicken Farm? Don't go!!
If that does not get you try a fish processing plant.

[HoundsTooth_BP]

The chance of CJD from eating beef is very rare. I am much more afraid of car wrecks, accidents, cancer, and other diseases.

I feel so good when I eat a hamburger or a steak. It would be sad day to have to give up that pleasure.

[twigs]

We are not giving up eating beef. We are changing some of our buying patterns which I happen to believe is a very smart thing to do for many reasons. Rather than buy meat, particularly hamburger, from multi-national conglomerates, we are buying it from local people who live and work in the community.

[Cardini]

Being that most animal rights & vegan wackos are Demorats perhaps we should call it Mad A** disease?