| Testing Humans for Mad Cow: Does Anyone Want to Know? |
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| Written by Kiki Hubbard | |
| Tuesday, 28 October 2008 | |
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Envirovore told you about promising research aimed at testing live cattle for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. If proven successful, experts will rely on urine to identify BSE infection instead of postmortem brain biopsies. Autopsies are currently the approach taken to identify the human variant, Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD), as well. Until now. Researchers say they may have a breakthrough blood test that can diagnose CJD in humans. They suggest that one in every 4,000 people might carry CJD in their blood (yikes), but 95% never develop the disease fully. The UK has the highest incident rate for CJD. More than 100 people have died from the untreatable and incurable disease. The British government is concerned that if testing for CJD in blood becomes routine, the number of blood donors will drastically decline. Donors may be reluctant to give blood if they risk being told that they're a carrier of a terrible disease. Donated blood is currently tested for a handful of diseases, including HIV, syphillis, and hepatitis B and C. Regardless, the test will have positive benefits in the form of prevention and perhaps even elimination of CJD. There are other ways governments can help avoid the spread of CJD, starting with stricter rules on downed animals headed to slaughter and more aggressive testing. And, as eaters, we can choose organic and grass-fed meat, which ensures no infected animal byproducts end up in the trough. Source: News-Medical.net Comments (3)
  written by Elizabeth, November 09, 2008
I agree with Jeremy. I have never been able to give blood, because I lived in England when I was a toddler. My parents are also ineligible and regularly gave before the rules changed. I bet LOTS of people can't give blood because of this rule and some would like to give.
 written by sandals, January 04, 2010
Slippers and Sandals
thank you
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It's true what our moms said...we are what we eat. In fact, it's truer than they thought. What I eat doesn't just affect me anymore, it affects all of us.
Unfortunately, the story of food can sometimes be complicated. But envirovores help each other out...which is why this blog will be bringing you news, tips, and information about food and the environment every step of the way.
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I would donate every time I could otherwise.
I argue that testing for it, and concluding that people don't have mad cow disease would actually increase the number of donors, NOT decrease it.