On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 07:25:45 -0500, Keith Thomas <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

The original radio talk is now up on the site in full transcript.  The scary bit is down towards the
end, but the whole document is a good intro to Mad Cow Disease (and the perils of 'free trade'
which is actually unfree).


http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/perspective/stories/s1486057.htm

Keith

>---------------
>How common CJD in its various forms is in the United States is unclear. Some medical experts
>believe that the incidence of CJD in the U.S. population is much higher than the commonly
>assumed 1 per million. A 1989 study at the University of Pittsburgh examined the case histories
of
>54 demented patients who, upon their death, were autopsied at the University of Pittsburgh. The
>study discovered that 39 (72 percent) of the patients had Alzheimer's; 15 (27.7 percent) had
>central nervous system disorders; and three (5.5 percent) had CJD. The researchers concluded
that
>the three cases of CJD turned up in their study "had a much longer course than is usually seen
>with that condition and failed [when the patient was alive] to show the usual EEG abnormalities."
In
>other words, the CJD cases discovered in Pittsburgh exhibited symptoms that were more
>compatible with Alzheimer's disease than classical CJD.
>
>A 1989 Yale University study reported similar findings. Postmortem examination of 46 patients
>diagnosed with Alzheimer's revealed that six (13 percent) actually had CJD.
>
>The Pittsburgh and Yale studies point to the possibility that some of the 4 million people in the
>United States suffering form Alzheimer's may actually be infected with the agent that causes CJD.
>And that raises this question: Has an unrecognized from of BSE infected U.S. cattle and entered
>the human food chain?
>-----------------
>Incientally, I reckon North Americans eat way too much of their red meat as beef.  More goat
meat
>is eaten worldwide than any other red meat.  I cycle through beef, lamb and goat for around half
>my red meat and kangaroo / rabbit / hare (all wild) for the other half. No pig. I also eat eggs,
>chicken and fish, so I give my digestion plenty of variation.
>
>Keith