"Mad Cow Disease"

I’ve recently been learning more and more about diseases, microbes, viruses, etc. Extremely interesting! But making me paranoid about touching every surface… lol but anyway, there’s something I wanted to share because it blows my mind, and I think it’s extremely important for us to know!

First, I would like to go about saying I am NOT preaching vegetarianism/veganism. It’s just something I feel like we should be mindful of.
So about a decade ago (or sooner? I can’t remember.) there was a big scare of mad cow disease. The interesting thing about this “disease” is that it’s not a bacteria, virus, or anything that can be prevented to treated. It’s mutated proteins, and basically when you ingest them, your body takes them in and the mutated proteins turn every protein it comes in contact with INTO a mutated protein. Eventually causing holes, like a “swiss cheese brain”.

The important thing about this “prion” (protein infection) known as Spongiform Encephalopathy, is that it can’t be destroyed with heat (unless you totally torch it into ashes), chemicals, etc. Once it’s in you, you can’t stop it. The weird thing is that you don’t even know it’s effects 3-30 years after… CRAZY!

These mutated proteins are caused by America’s disgusting meat industry. I’m sure some of you have watched Food Inc., etc. Basically, cows, chicken, pigs, and so on, are fed “meal”, which is the scrapings of the bottom of their pin and other scraps. (Feathers, feces, other bodily fluids, cartilage, beaks, etc.) In most cases, its a horrible environment of thousands of livestock crammed together in a big room, treated with a bunch of antibiotics and hormones to the point where they can’t move… It’s sad. But because of these conditions, they adapt mutations, leading to mutated proteins, and then fed to eachother their own DNA to repeat and spread the mutations.

Because of this, they’re spread to a broad range of livestock, over and over and over again!
Why should we worry?
1. US does not test for this disease.
2. We continue to put livestock into the poor conditions, and continue to spread it.
3. Totally untreatable/incurable.
4. You also won’t know until years and years later, when you’re already crazy and dying.

jeez….

Here’s a link to a chart that explains further.

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/dna/prions/