1 IN 2000 BRITISH CITIZENS HAVE MAD COW DISEASE PRIONS IN THEIR BLOOD

 

The latest tally on the possible percentage of people exposed to Mad Cow Disease, or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, is chilling.  

But researchers say that there is no proof or evidence that all who carry the prion in their bloodstream are going to develop the disease. 

1 in every 2000 people in the UK have in their bodies traces of the proteins that cause the Creutzfeldt Jakob variant disease, a disease that has devastating consequences and is to date incurable. 

The disease was first identified in 1996.  Given the lengthy incubation period of the disease, there is no way of knowing how many people will ultimately show the full blown effects of the infection. 

The research that reached this conclusion started from the examination of removed appendices from 32,000 patients in 41 separate hospitals between 2000 and 2012.  That is where the 1 in 2000 ratio was generated.

 

But not all patients had the same genotype on codon 129 of the gene enconding of the prion protein present in their body. That in itself, might be good news.  The majority of the sample showed that the more common genotype present was homozygous valine, or VV.

All 177 cases so far officially recorded of mad cow disease in humans all had a different genotype, called Methionine homozygous or MM.

It could be then, that those who have the VV genotype of the prion protein, might never develop the symptoms of the illness at all.  

 

In addition, the replication mechanisms first seen in prion proteins now has been identified in other proteins that are common to other neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.  So the question that arises is, are the protein in these disease too, transmissible? 

One way to find out is to study tissue samples from times before the onset and discovery of mad cow disease, to see if there already was a presence of the prion fragments protein  in the blood of humans, or whether it is an altogether new infection, that stemmed solely from the consumption of meat.

Partial Source : MNT  / 10.16.13