"BACKGROUND: Prions are known to cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) after accumulation in the central nervous system. There is increasing evidence that prions are also present in body fluids and that prion infection by blood transmission is possible...
METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: ...we were able to identify prion protein
(PrP(C))- the precursor of prions (PrP(Sc))- in milk from humans, cows,
sheep, and goats... also found in homogenised and pasteurised off-the-shelf milk...
CONCLUSIONS: In view of a recent study showing evidence of
prion replication occurring in the mammary gland of scrapie infected
sheep suffering from mastitis, the appearance of PrP(C) in milk implies
the possibility that milk of TSE-infected animals serves as source for
PrP(Sc)."
"Medline Abstract Dated December 20, 2006: 1: PLoS ONE. 2006 Dec 20;1:e71. Links Prion protein in milk. Franscini N, Gedaily AE, Matthey U, Franitza S, Sy MS, Burkle A, Groschup M, Braun U, Zahn R. Alicon AG Schlieren, Switzerland.
[Robert's back! The incredibly prolific and prescient writer of the 6,000+ subscriber "Not Milk" Yahoo Group column was gone for the past year due to spinal surgery. Recenty we've seen some new columns appear. He's latest (excerpted above from here and below) is a stunner. Robert's the main inspiration for the Mad Cowboy Newsletter, and often writes some of the best (and insightful, sometimes controversial, always interesting) prose about vegan-related issues anywhere You can read archives of his work here. How wonderful he's surfaced with another nail in the "why drink milk?" coffin! His website is also packed with well-referenced reasons for avoiding all dairy products. Highly recommended.]
FROM:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/2559
Is Your Brain Slowly Rotting?
"I don't know how you were diverted You were perverted too... I don't know how you were inverted No one alerted you. Look at you all... Still my guitar gently weeps."
-George Harrison, 1968
Are the cells of your brain slowly dying? Will such cell death lead to the end of your life, or compromise your joy in old age by subjecting you to constant care by loved ones?
The latest link to rapid onset brain disease supports that issue which I've been writing about for a more than a decade. The study's abstract appears at the end of this column. A simple summary:
In 1907, Dr. Alzheimer published a treatise about a disease that would one day carry his name. He had two young colleagues who worked with him, Dr. Creutzfeldt and Dr. Jakob, and they too identified a similar brain-wasting disease that now has the world in a panic. The brains of cows turn into a sponge-like mass and their behavior is called "mad." The human variant of Mad Cow Disease has been named Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, or CJD. The protein causing CJD has no DNA, and has been described as more like a crystal than cellular material. That substance is called the Prion.
In labs, 1000 degree Fahrenheit heat does not destroy this protein particle. Some scientists say that once infected, the incubation period can last anywhere from one month to thirty years. As the human brain turns into a sponge, this spongioform encephalitic condition physically debilitates those so infected.
____________________________________
"Mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a fatal neurological disease of cattle first recognized in the United Kingdom in 1986...a growing body of (still largely circumstantial) evidence suggests that BSE may be transmissible to humans."
J Public Health Policy, 1998, 19:2
____________________________________
"Transmission of prions from infected cattle to humans by oral intake seems not only possible but also very probable."
Annals of Italian Medicine, 1998 Oct, 13:4
____________________________________
"The outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy has had major impacts on the United Kingdom dairy industry, including the loss of beef from dairy markets, the culling of more than 900,000 dairy bull calves, the removal of all cattle more than 30 months of age from the human food chain, and now slaughter of cohort animals. Impacts on dairy marketing have yet to be properly assessed."
Journal of Dairy Sci, 1998 Nov, 81:11
____________________________________
"Bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease belong to a group of degenerative neurological disorders collectively known as the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. All the diseases have long incubation periods which, depending on the host, may range from many months to several decades. Death is inevitable after a slow progressive illness."
British Med Bull, 1998, 54:3
____________________________________
"A 24-year-old vegetarian has been diagnosed with Cruetzfeld-Jacob disease. Scientists fear that milk and cheese may be the source of infection."
London Times, August 23, 1997 Michael Hornsby
Scientists' conclusion from latest research:
*********************************************
In view of a recent study showing evidence of prion replication occurring in the mammary gland of scrapie infected sheep suffering from mastitis, the appearance of PrP(C) in milk implies the possibility that milk of TSE-infected animals serves as source for PrP(Sc). *********************************************
Medline Abstract Dated December 20, 2006:
1: PLoS ONE. 2006 Dec 20;1:e71. Links Prion protein in milk.Franscini N, Gedaily AE, Matthey U, Franitza S, Sy MS, Burkle A, Groschup M, Braun U, Zahn R. Alicon AG Schlieren, Switzerland.
BACKGROUND: Prions are known to cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) after accumulation in the central nervous system.
There is increasing evidence that prions are also present in body fluids and that prion infection by blood transmission is possible. The low concentration of the proteinaceous agent in body fluids and its long incubation time complicate epidemiologic analysis and estimation of spreading and thus the risk of human infection. This situation is particularly unsatisfactory for food and pharmaceutical industries, given the lack of sensitive tools for monitoring the infectious agent.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have developed an adsorption matrix, Alicon PrioTrap(R), which binds with high affinity and specificity to prion proteins. Thus we were able to identify prion protein (PrP(C))-the precursor of prions (PrP(Sc))-in milk from humans, cows, sheep, and goats. The absolute amount of PrP(C) differs between the species (from microg/l range in sheep to ng/l range in human milk). PrP(C) is also found in homogenised and pasteurised off-the-shelf milk, and even ultrahigh temperature treatment only partially diminishes endogenous PrP(C)concentration.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In view of a recent study showing evidence of prion replication occurring in the mammary gland of scrapie infected sheep suffering from mastitis, the appearance of PrP(C) in milk implies the possibility that milk of TSE-infected animals serves as source for PrP(Sc).
PMID: 17183703
Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com
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