nycer

I lived in the UK in 1990 and -1, the height of Mad Cow mania, and was amazed when I learned recently that this means I won't be allowed to donate blood (in the US at least) for another 20 years. Seems the disease can lie dormant for up to 30 years and then suddenly erupt. I was complaining about this to a friend in med school, saying how stupid it was, blah blah blah, and he shut me up with the very effective statement, "I've seen someone die of that disease and I can't think of a worse way to go." He refused to give me details because he couldn't talk about it it had upset him so much. This from a guy who practices medicine in New York City and who has probably seen just about every horrible death imaginable. So, as Bill Murray says in Caddyshack, I got that goin' for me.

kam

Nycer: I too have watched somone die from CJS as well as many others die of other diseases since I was in the medical profession. In the case of the lady with CJS, at first they thought she had a stroke and then Altsheimers until CSJ was confirmed with a biopsy. She died in a very short time off life support and was not in reality since she was comatose for most of the time. I have surely seen worse deaths, although it was terribly hard on the family. Perhaps why your doctor friend thought it was so terrible was that he was powerless to stop it and that is a frustration for all in the medical profession. CJS is nasty disease, but so is AIDS and we don't seem to be so very worked up about that, do we? No sure this is a travel question as one woman in STockton,CA, died of CJS and she had never been out of the state of California!

Ess

Kam, how does one actually of mad cow disease? What happens?

Ess

Sorry, meant how does one die of made cow...etc.

Angela

A couple of useful websites to give more info on CJD and vCJD are -: <BR> <BR>www.cjd.ed.ac.uk <BR>This is the CJD surveillance unit based at Edinburgh University and gives good information. <BR> <BR>Another is <BR>www.alzheimers.org.uk <BR>then click on CJD support network <BR> <BR>Angela

Meg

CJD is now a reality in New Orleans. An article in the Times-Picayune yesterday reported a death at Tulane Hospital after the patient underwent brain surgery. The instruments used in the operation were subsequently used on eight other patients. Now, they are waiting to see if there is an outbreak although there is no way to estimate the risk or to say when, or whether, symptoms may develop. The article goes on to say that about 6,000 people worldwide contract the disease each year. It can be inherited, but the only proven way of contracting the disease is through "an unintended consequence of a medical procedure using tainted human matter or surgical instruments." Scary.

kam

Mad Cow disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) is a disease in which the normally functioning brain tissue is affected by a virus that grows very slowly. Researchers know that the virus can be transmitted but the means of transmission is unclear in many cases. Eventually the brain tissue becomes "spongiform" ie, spongy and can no longer function normally. There is no specific treatment and it eventually progresses to death. Most patients show progressive dementia (which sometimes is mistaken for Altzheimers)and loss of consciousness. CJD is confirmed on brain biopsy or at autopsy. In the case of the lady I knew, her family requested no life support, including IV fluids, and she died in about 9 days, most probably of dehydration, but she was unconscious during that time. I don't believe she suffered but it was extremely hard on her family. She had traveled to Britain and Scotland but many years prior to getting sick. I have read that the incubation period can be as long as 30 years, however. One of the places doing research on CJD is UCSF. Maybe there's more to be found there.

sheila

?

How did this end up at the top when no-one's posted on it since 2000?

SallyCanuck

Possibly something to do with having to sign on to Fodor's umpteen times today?

PatrickLondon

Perhaps it's a random &quot;let's chuck this into the pool and see if we can start a feeding frenzy&quot; sort of a day at Fodor's...

kleeblatt

Seems to be temporarily forgotten in Switzerland.

There hasn't even been any mention about the Bird Flu.

ira

Hey BE,

Tens of housands of pounds of infected food products are recalled every year all over the world.

I suggest that you take to eating nothing but that which you have grown or raised yourself.

Nikki

I'm guessing Beef Eater has left the building.

Cholmondley_Warner

perhaps it's a dastardly plan to unmask me and reveal my real identity!

And if it hadn't been for these pesky kids I would have got away with it.

traveller1959

Thank you, Sheila, for bringing this thread back to daylight.

Isn't is amazing how wrong all our convictions had been?

Today we know: it was all false alarm, but 9 years ago, we all threw our beef away.

Today, we have climate change. Also false alarm?

bdjtbenson

I'm ignoring the health scares, there are too many to keep track of anyway.

What's the worst that could happen? Your brain gets eaten up and while in hospital you catch a flesh eating virus that causes you to have a limb or two removed.

On the other hand you could forget to look both ways before stepping out in front of a double-decker bus and be in a coma while the flesh eating virus causes you to lose limbs.

Life's a risk, enjoy the adventure!

bdjtbenson

Cindy,

My daughter is a vegitarian again.

When she was a teen, vegetarian meant living on french fries and sodas. She wasn't ever fat but I can see how that diet would get you there.

She's also a proud pacifist who spends her time fighting with everyone about everything.

Life is full of ironies.