Hello!


Mahesh:
<< If the natives of New Guinea that practiced cannibalism several hundred
years ago before the advent of pesticides etc. succumbed to  the human
variant
of mad cow disease, why should allergies to beef be ruled out? >>

John:
<< I must be having a very bad day.  This makes no sense to me at all.
 Would
 you please explain what that means?  What does a pathogenic disease have
to
 do with having an allergy to the meat you contracted it from?>>

Liza:
<<I don't understand either.  What is the connection between an allergy and
a
disease? Or pesticides? Or cannibalism? I must be having a very bad day,
too.
I have no clue what this means.>>

ABUSHDR:

<<Those diseases have to do with viral-like particles and not
allergy---completely different phenomena are involved>>

Mahesh:

Allergies are caused by protein molecules that do not belong in the blood
stream. "Mad Cow Disease" is caused by "prions" according to consensus by
the researchers in the area. It is not an infectious disease caused by
virus. Prions are proteins.

There are members of this list that believe that since beef proteins  are (
according to them ) like ours, we cannot be allergic to it, and that the
allergies to beef are caused by pesticides in the beef.

For those that want an excellent overview of Mad Cow Disease in laymans
terms, I strongly recommend "Mad Cow USA " by Sheldon Rampton and John
Stauber, 1997, published by Common Courage Press. The authors are not
vegetarians.

A larger number of chronic illnesses, including several auto-immune
diseases are related to food allergies and intolerances to PROTEINS.

Mahesh Shah aka ElectronicBoy