Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Estimate doubled for vCJD carriers

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CJD diseased brain tissue

Twice as many Britons as previously thought could be carrying the human form of “mad cow” disease, variant CJD.

Researchers believe one in 2,000 people in the UK is a carrier of the disease linked to eating contaminated beef.

Their estimate in the BMJ comes from studying more than 32,000 samples of human tissue removed during appendix operations carried out between 2000 and 2012 at 41 hospitals.

It remains unclear if any of these carriers will ever develop symptoms.

Early predictions of a vCJD epidemic didn’t come to fruition.

To date, here have been 177 UK deaths from vCJD. Most of these occurred in the late 90s and early 2000s. There has been only one death in the last two years.

The rare, fatal disease progressively attacks the brain.

“Start Quote

Will these people develop disease and can they transmit it? There are many questions we still do not know the answers to”

Lead researcher Prof Sebastian Brandner

But it appears that relatively few who catch the infectious agent that causes the disease develop symptoms. People can be “silent” carriers for decades and not even know it.

The BMJ research identified 16 such carriers out of the thousands of appendix tissue samples studied.

Experts say many vital questions remain unanswered.

Since the link between vCJD and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as mad cow disease, was discovered in 1996, there have been strict controls to prevent meat from infected cattle from entering the food chain.

However, the average time it takes for the symptoms of vCJD to occur after initial infection is still unclear.

Preventing spread

This means people exposed to infected meat before the food controls were introduced continue to develop variant CJD, and may spread it to others.

Experience tells us that the disease could be transmitted from human to human via blood – in the UK, there have been three reported cases of vCJD associated with a blood transfusion.

Blood donor services take measures to ensure blood is not infected but there is no test to screen for vCJD, although scientists are working on this.

And there is currently no cure for the disease.

Prof Sebastian Brandner of University College London, who led the BMJ research, said: “We do not know what will happen.

“Will these people develop disease and can they transmit it? There are many questions we still do not know the answers to.”

Prof Richard Knight, director of the National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh, said the answers might not be known for decades.

In the meantime, surveillance was key, he said.

“You can see from the data available that its likely that we will get a secondary or tertiary wave of disease but its likely that these further waves will be small.

“Future clinical cases will be pretty small in number,” he added.

Dr Graham Jackson, of the MRC Prion Unit at UCL Institute of Neurology, said: “Given the high levels of infection indicated by this research, it is now crucial we establish how many people in the UK harbour that infection in their bloodstream in order to adequately assess the risks of transmission through contaminated blood donations.

“Studies to develop new blood tests for CJD must remain a priority to assist with screening and protecting the UK blood supply.”

The Human Checklist – What Every Human Being Needs to Know.

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cherie

The Weight of the World

Hello Earthling! How nice of you to have dropped by this titillating planet filled with such great diversity and beauty.

What was that you said?  Did you say that you:

Feel burdened by society and all that is wrong with the world?

You feel an overwhelming pressure to change the world?

Did I hear you right?  Did you say that you even feel guilty or responsible for the state of the world?

What an awful burden it is to bear when we decide to take on the weight of the world, or on a lesser degree, the weight of another person’s choices or life.

Are you guilty of this?  Yes…no…perhaps a little?

Are You Suffering From Mad Cow Disease?

Let me get clear on this.  Sit down and make yourself comfortable because I need your undivided attention.

Holy cow!  I only recently realized that I’ve been a complete idiot — a buffoon of the highest degree.

In what textbook did I read that I need to change the world, take over if I saw someone else suffering along their path or put every effort into making people see the world the way I see it?

Nope, can’t think of the name of that book so I must have somehow imagined it.  But how many of you can say you feel the same way?

You may feel responsible for your partner, your grown up children, your friends and other members of your family.  You may even take on the responsibility of complete strangers.

Light Bulbs and Cricket Bats

Let’s get straight to the juicy bit of this article — either you’re going to have an ‘a-ha’ moment or you are going to have to beat yourself over the head a couple of times with a bat to whack the sense home.

You were born here on planet Earth and the global problems were here, social structure (no matter how much you may dislike it) was already in place.  Thanks to our ancestors, the worlds configuration was in place the moment you catapulted into reality — the good, the bad and the ugly.  You are not responsible for what came before you.  However, you ARE responsible for how you affect the world with your presence from this moment onwards.  Every choice you make is part and parcel to your responsibility.  Own it.

You were born on planet Earth and you needed to work out some of your own lessons and you’re doing great.  When you decide to shift your focus onto another person’s lessons and try to tamper with their version of reality — you have made a crucial mistake.  You don’t think the other person is capable of handling their own lives so you intervene.  You may think you need to because your version of reality and what you think is the right way as it is working so well for you.  True?

Nope.  It is YOUR truth but it may not necessarily be another’s.  When you try to control another individual or their path you are basically saying that they are weak and you are strong.   Oops…not very nice.  What’s more is you’re not even helping yourself out, you’re just taking on extra baggage.

Helping or Hindering?

Everyone needs to work out their own journey through life.  It is your responsibility to love and respect them enough to give them space and to only help out when you are asked to.  Get it?

You are disempowering another human being when you try to seize control or mold them into how you want them to fit into your life.

You are not responsible for any other human being but yourself (barring minors under your care, of course).  Focus on yourself and be the best person you can be so that you can be that shining example to others.  That is the only way you will make a positive change in someone’s life.  You can’t go into their space and try to effect change.

The Prime Directive

You are responsible for your life.  Your main responsibility is to be happy — you could even call this your ‘prime directive’or ultimate goal.  If you are not happy it is your responsibility to sniff out the causes as to why you are not living in joy.

So, now say you have found your bliss but it hurts you when you see other people suffer and you want to help.

Keep Your Nose on Your Face

The stark truth is that they need to take responsibility for their life and choices.  You can always help another human being but you should never force yourself or your way of life onto someone else.

To truly love someone is to accept them as they are and respect their life path.  Can you do that?

Can you step into owning your life and taking responsibility for your choices today?  If you do, the weight of the world will be lifted from your shoulders and you will experience a freedom like no other.

It’s okay to be here, it’s okay to be you and it’s okay to let other people be themselves.

You are only responsible for you.  And thanks to the wise words of Gandhi, try to be the change you want to see in the world.

Source: purpose fairy

New test predicts risk for Autism.

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A team of Australian researchers, led by University of Melbourne has developed a genetic test that is able to predict the risk of developing Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD.

Lead researcher Professor Stan Skafidas, Director of the Centre for Neural Engineering at the University of Melbourne said the test could be used to assess the risk for developing the disorder.
 
“This test could assist in the early detection of the condition in babies and children and help in the early management of those who become diagnosed,” he said.
 
“It would be particularly relevant for families who have a history of Autism or related conditions such as Asperger’s Syndrome,” he said.

Autism affects around one in 150 births and is characterized by abnormal social interaction, impaired communication and repetitive behaviours.

The test correctly predicted ASD with more than 70 per cent accuracy in people of central European descent. Ongoing validation tests are continuing including the development of accurate testing for other ethnic groups.

Clinical neuropsychologist, Dr Renee Testa from the University of Melbourne and Monash University, said the test would allow clinicians to provide early interventions that may reduce behavioural and cognitive difficulties that children and adults with ASD experience.
 
“Early identification of risk means we can provide interventions to improve overall functioning for those affected, including families,” she said.

A genetic cause has been long sought with many genes implicated in the condition, but no single gene has been adequate for determining risk.
 
Using US data from 3,346 individuals with ASD and 4,165 of their relatives from Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) and Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI), the researchers identified 237 genetic markers (SNPs) in 146 genes and related cellular pathways that either contribute to or protect an individual from developing ASD.

Senior author Professor Christos Pantelis of the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre at the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health said the discovery of the combination of contributing and protective gene markers and their interaction had helped to develop a very promising predictive ASD test.

The test is based on measuring both genetic markers of risk and protection for ASD. The risk markers increase the score on the genetic test, while the protective markers decrease the score. The higher the overall score, the higher the individual risk.

“This has been a multidisciplinary team effort with expertise across fields providing new ways of investigating this complex condition,” Professor Pantelis said.

The study was undertaken in collaboration with Professor Ian Everall, Cato Chair in Psychiatry and Dr Gursharan Chana from the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, and Dr Daniela Zantomio from Austin Health.

The next step is to further assess the accuracy of the test by monitoring children who are not yet diagnosed over an extended study. 

The study has been published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Source: Science Alert

One step closer to ‘Mad Cow’ test

A simple blood test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and Mad Cow disease is a step closer, following a breakthrough by medical researchers at the University of Melbourne.

Using newly available genetic sequencing scientists discovered cells infected with prions (the infectious agent responsible for these diseases) release particles which contain easily recognised ‘signature genes’.

Associate Professor Andrew Hill — from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Bio21 Institute — said these particles travel in the blood stream, making a diagnostic blood test a possibility.

“This might provide a way to screen people who have spent time in the UK, who currently face restrictions on their ability to donate blood,” he said.

“With a simple blood test nurses could deem a prospective donor’s blood as healthy, with the potential to significantly boost critical blood stocks.”

Mad Cow disease was linked to the deaths of nearly 200 people in Great Britain who consumed meat from infected animals in the late 1980s.

Since 2000, the Australia Red Cross Blood Service has not accepted blood from anybody who lived in the UK for more than six months between 1980 and 1996, or who received a blood transfusion in the UK after 1980.

The research is published in this week’s Oxford University Press Nucleic Acids Research journal.

Lead author Dr Shayne Bellingham said the breakthrough might also help detect other human neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

“This is an exciting new field where we can test for conditions in the brain and throughout the body, without being invasive,” he said.

The researchers’ genetic testing focused on a form of cell discharge called exosomes.

If exosomes were infected with prions (the pathogen that causes Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, commonly known as Mad Cow Disease) they were found to also carry a specific signature of small genes called microRNA’s.

The research was undertaken at the University of Melbourne, with assistance from the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council.

Source: Science Alert