Protein Possibly Links Mad Cow to Alzheimer's
While not claiming a direct link between mad cow and Alzheimer's disease, a new study in the journal Nature suggests prion protein, an infectious agent associated with the neurodegenerative illness Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human equivalent of mad cow, may relate to mad cow disease itself. Prion protein is a misfolded protein that can arise from genetic mutations or can be contracted by eating tainted meat, such as cattle infected with mad cow disease; The San Francisco Chronicle reports.
This summer South Koreans went berserk when officials began renegotiating beef imports with the U.S. fueled by fears over a 2003 outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States. Before that, the Bush administration backed a federal appeal to stop meatpackers from testing their animals for mad cow.
With in the past few years both the U.S. and Canada reported incidents of mad cow disease. I don’t eat red meat. I’m way too crazy already. Eek!
Image credit: Sir Mervs (pinoy biyahero)
