Mad Cow Disease: How Serious is the Danger in the United States? Also some notes on Altzheimer's
Though the Mad Cow Disease epidemic was first caused by the feeding of cow parts to cattle in Britain, the Mad Cow disease since has appeared in many European countries as well as the United States.
To cambat it, The World Health Organization (WHO) advises against feeding animal parts to any food-producing livestock. England and most European countries now follow this advice. However, the United States is allowing lower safety standards.
Though we have now made it illegal to feed cattle with beef parts in the USA, We are still using animal parts from infected sheep and other diseased animals in the animal feed. This sort of meat and bone meal is used in feed for cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, farm fed fish, and any livestock you can think of, as well as pets. And 'like to like' feeding (causing them to eat their own species) is still legal in the USA for all livestock except for cattle. But even cattle in the USA have have cattle protein added to their food, in a roundabout way. Apparently, the cattle protein in chicken feed is present the chicken leavings (cage cleanings) that are fed to cattle. In addition, calves are being fed cattle blood protein as an additive in their formulas.
Europe and England are much more careful than the USA is, to prevent a Mad Cow -like outbreak, and those countries follow the WHO much more closely.
Please note that cooking does not destroy the 'prion' that is considered the causative agent of Mad Cow Disease. Nor is it destroyed by dis-infective agents or even by autoclaving or incinerating.
This disease is spread most directly by feeding cattle parts to cattle; however, there are less direct ways in effect, which can also lead to very serous outcomes.
The United States continues to feed beef parts to other animals. "Downer" (sick and dying) animals are used in other animal and pet feed. Parts of these other livestock are fed to cattle. This is very risky, and could easily carry on the infection, bringing the disease back to the cattle.
Another bad outcome of the practice, in the United States, of feeding animals other than cattle (such as sheep) parts of their own species in their feed, is that it can lead to the development of similar diseases to Mad Cow, in these other animals. Diseases that appear to be related to Mad Cow Disease have already shown up in various animals in the U.S.A., including sheep. ('Scrapie' is Mad Sheep Disease). These brain diseases called TSEs (Transmissable Spongiform Encephalopathies) also appear in deer, elk, mink, rats, mice, hamsters, and others. Also, people have also been getting deadly diseases here in the USA that appear to be related to Mad Cow Disease. Notable of these are Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Note that a variant of CJD, vCreutzfeldt-Jakob disease, is considered to be the result of eating Mad Cows.
Also, it has even been pointed out that Altzheimer's disease causes similar destruction of the brain to Mad Cow Disease, and might possibly be a related variant of it. (One of the countries with the lowest rate of Altzheimer's disease is India. In India, the cow has long been considered sacred, and not eaten by people or fed to other animals).
The idea of butchering cattle at a young age, before they show any symptoms of mad cow disease, may hide its presence. If a calf were born with Mad Cow Disease, or fed it while small, that calf might not show the symptoms until it was a much older cow. However, that calf would still have the infective agent, even if the calf was butchered and eaten when young. So young cattle, showing no signs of the disease, can also be an extreme danger to consume, if at one time they were fed the infective agent, or were born with it. And just because a 'mad cow' was never in the food chain does not mean that no other harm was done. What about all its herd-mates, which were fed the same contaminated food? What happened to them? If they were not already consumed, they may yet be. It appears that ranchers are shipping cattle all around the country, and we often cannot trace the many places that an infected cow has been. Considering the number of cases of Mad Cow Disease that have appeared in different parts of the U.S.A., it is no wonder that most other major countries have banned the importation of American beef.
What can we do? We must stop the feeding of animal parts to our livestock! It infects the livestock and gives us the diseases, in a slightly different form. Remember, heat does not kill the disease agent, and different variations of diseases develop in different species. Also, it has a long incubation period, so is often not recognized as being present.
Make healthy choices in food! Though I don't promote eating livestock (being a vegetarian), those who so do should try to obtain meat from livestock fed only their natural diet. That is grass and hay for cattle, sheep, and goats; and grain for the birds. They should never be given meal fortified with any animal parts. I believe that "organic" meat is much more secure in this, though you would want to verify that.
Be vegatarian! Or, if you must eat beef, get grass-fed beef.
Grassland Beef is the ideal source for those who don't want to give up beef consumption. Grassland Beef offers genuine grass-fed beef, which supply the healthful Omega 3 fatty acids, not found in grain-fed beef. (Grass is better than grain, because of the type of fat it produces in the beef). Omega 3 fatty acids, like those found in fish, are health promoting. Click the link above for a good source.
Write your congressmen! Our livestock were created to be herbivores. These lax laws may seem to benefit the pockets of the beef industry, but will really hurt all of us in the long run. It has hurt the meat industry by causing American beef to be boycotted in other countries. The more the disease is spread in the USA, the the more people here will start to suffer and die.
Alzheimer's is not as horrific as Mad Cow disease, but it is much more prevalent.
Guard Against Alzheimer's
If you think you, or someone you know is getting Alzheimer's, there is a treatment that has recently been tried on several who were in the early stages, with successful results. Click on this link for more information.
To keep your brain healthy, and protect against Altzheimer's, it is recommended to take vitamins folic acid, B6, and B12. For general health, also a good all-round vitiamin /mineral source is recommended.
The Lifepack series sold by Pharmanex is ideal for this.
Eat Turmeric, a spice found in yellow curry powder. Turmeric (found in Curcumin) has been found to reduce inflammation and free radical damage. In mice that were genetically engineered to develop amyloid plaques, characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, those fed with curcumin developed 43 percent less plaques. India, where curry spices are used very copiously, has a very low rate of Alzheimer's disease. The research on curcumin does seem to indicate that it may help protect the brain against Alzheimer's, and be excellent for health in other ways. (The population of India has been predominantly vegetarian, (at least they avoid eating cows), which is probably significant. Some think Altzheimer's might be related to Mad Cow Disease. A suggestion is to take a comprehensive multivitamin such as LifePak, whch contains B6, B12, Folic acid, etc., and then supplement it with Curcumin seasoning in food. If you can't find Curcumin, look for Turmeric, the spice from which it is derived. Turmeric has traditionally been used in Indian Curry powder, giving it the yellow color. Some modern versions of Curry may not have as much Turmeric, though. Turmeric is hailed as providing powerful Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic properties, as well.
ALUMINUM: Remember, also that Aluminum is found in the brains of Alzheimers' patients. It is wise to avoid all possible sources of Aluminum poisoning. Don't use Aluminum cooking pans or utensiles. Aluminum ions can get into the food (especially reacting with the more acid, or stronger foods, perhaps). Also, be careful with aluminum foil. Especially check the ingredients of medicines, etc. Many have some form of Aluminum in them, perhaps as an emulsifier. It could be a part of some ingredient word, showing as Al, Alum, Aluminum Lake, etc. Check antacids -- they often contain it. Even many lipsticks have aluminum. The common use of Aluminum cans for drinks or food may be a major problem. Also, most food colors contain a very high percentage of aluminum. Not only are these food colors added to most processed foods we eat, but it is also in lipsticks. Where it says 'Lake', this usually means aluminum. Also, most food colors can be added to food, without the requirement that it even be listed on the label. Only a few certain ones need to be listed, which in the past were though to be carcinogenic. Those are to be released from that restriction in the future. So often we cannot tell by reading the label if the food contains colors; and the colors are likely to have aluminum.
If you think you, or someone you know is getting Alzheimer's, there is a treatment that has recently been tried on several who were in the early stages, with successful results. Click on this link for more information.
Some of my sources were the following websites:
"New mad cow woes" http://whyfiles.org/012mad_cow/
"CNN.com- Mad cow, Alzheimer's proteins are similar"-study-August 24, 2000 http://www.cnn.com/2000HEALTH/08/24/bc.health.madcow.reut/
Curry Powder: Research from "A Spice Takes on Alzheimer's Disease" (Biomedicine, Dec 8, 2001).
http://www.lionsgrip.com/curresearch.html
"Study of blood may predict Alzheimer's": Study --Reuters via Times of India
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/629496/posts
"Mad Cow Disease in Milk and Beef Causes Mad Cow Disease in Humans Masquerading as Alzheimer's", by Dr. Grady A. Deal, Ph.D., D.C.
http://www.jubilee-newspaper.com/mad_cow_96.htm
"Alzheimer's risk linked to diet", by James Meek, Feb 17 2001
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,439113,00.html
"Oprah Not 'The Only Mad Cow In America' thanks to Texas Governor," Common Dreams NewsCenter
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0630-24.htm
See also, "USDA says sick cow was born in Texas"
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-06-29-mad-cow x.htm
If you have questions, please note that as I have done some research, you can do more.
