Mad Cow Disease
With many special interest groups hoping to benefit by generating public alarm over mad cow disease, facts can be quite hard to find. Even the name “mad cow” has been used because of the emotional reaction it produces. The real name for mad cow disease, after all, is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). Despite the detection of a single case of the disease in the United States, BSE does not present a public health risk for the American population. Through mad-cow-facts.com, the Center for Global Food Issues hopes to provide concerned beef consumers with credible mad cow disease facts and related variant (vCJD) from recognized academic and industry experts.
BSE Analysis
Alzheimer’s Disease vs. Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease
Dr. Harriett Butchko - March 2005
We’re living longer, but there is an ironic price to pay for our longevity — the incidence of certain age-related diseases is rising. As life expectancy increases, the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) also is growing.
Because there is such a high incidence of AD in the U.S., the question may be asked whether there are other neurodegenerative diseases with some symptoms similar to AD that might be misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s. This paper will specifically examine the likelihood that sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) may be misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s.
There are a number of neurodegenerative diseases, but, other than Alzheimer’s disease, which affects 15,000 people per million population, most are unfamiliar and rare. Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is the rarest of all, affecting only one person per million population.
End the “Mad Cow” Madness
From the Competitive Enterprise Institute- December 17, 2004
On his first official visit to Canada, President Bush promised to end the madness: the United States’ ban on Canadian beef. Such a move is long overdue. The ban has hurt producers and consumers in both countries — for no public health gain.
Recent news of a second possible case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) — popularly known as “mad cow disease” — in the U.S. proved to be a false alarm when the tests came back negative. But the U.S. border remains closed to Canadian beef because of one confirmed BSE case found in Canada over a year ago.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE, is the scientific name for mad cow disease.
‘Bovine’ refers to cows; ‘Spongiform’ describes the ’sponge-like’ effect of the disease on cells; and ‘Encephalopathy’ is used to describe diseases of the brain. While members of the media often use the term “mad cow disease”, the correct name is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE for short.
“To become infected [with vCJD] you would need to eat an enormous amount of brain, which is not possible.”
French Prion Researcher
Dr Jean-Philippe Deslys
