Unlike other things you can catch that make you sick, like bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi, prions don't have genetic material and aren't really alive.
Actually, they're proteins that are misfolded , and when they infect a healthy organism, they cause its normal proteins to start misfolding as well, leading to a sort of chain-reaction. And this mostly happens in the brain. Eventually, the prions will eat holes in the tissue, causing a characteristic swiss cheese appearance. Thus the name transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.
Transmissible, meaning that it's highly infectious. Spongiform, literally meaning a form that looks like a sponge. And encephalopathy comes from pathy, or disease, and encephalo, meaning inside the head as in the brain. Prion infection is untreatable and always fatal. It leads to painful neurodegeneration, resulting in dementia and ataxia, or uncoordinated and uncontrolled muscle movements. This can be seen in a common manifestation of prion disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy , or mad cow disease.
Mad cow spreads when animals eat infected tissue, but it can also occur spontaneously, and it may be passed down genetically. And we can get a human variant if we eat beef that's infected with mad cow. Although the concentration of prions is highest in the brain and spinal cord , they can be found in blood , muscle , and even bone. And cooking the meat does nothing to destroy the prions. Whether it be cow or human flesh, spongiform encephalopathies are still highly contagious even when served well-done.
Creutzfelt-Jacob disease is the most common human prion disease, but it's still relatively rare, affecting only one in one million people. It usually comes about via a random mutation , through familial inheritance, or by grafts or transfusions from an infected individual. Cannibalism is more often associated with a disease known as kuru , first described in Papua New Guinea in the s.
There, the Fore tribe practiced ritualistic cannibalism , eating the brains of recently deceased relatives in an effort to capture their "life force. Prion incubation periods can span anywhere from 5 to 40 years, during which a person has no symptoms.
Unlike viruses, bacteria, fungi, or parasitic infections, which contain DNA or RNA, prions don't, which means they can't be eradicated with radiation or heat. They could be present in any nervous tissue, including our organs and muscles. However, they are most common in the brain and spinal nerve tissues. As a means of survival, eating people is probably the best option.
Pedro Algorta, a man who was stranded in the Andes mountains for 71 days after a plane crash in , ate anything he could find to nourish his body for two months, including the hands, thigh, meat, and arms of people. In his book, Into the Mountains , Algorta explained his decision and his group's decision to eat the frozen dead came from a place of cold, distant logic; it was a survival tactic. Eating human flesh isn't always bad for us, especially if it lacks prions, but doing so carries an exceptionally high risk that's not worth sinking your teeth into.
Years of research suggest that vision, lung function, immune system performance, and even sperm count can all be improved by omega-3s. Do you know how to prevent head lice infestations? Or what to do if you find the critters? Apple Picking, a Perfect Fall Activity.
Apple picking could be a good outing to take this fall, as it lends itself to social distancing. Mental Health. This World Mental Health Day , learn about the different ways you can improve your mental wellbeing and live a happier and purposeful life. This World Suicide Prevention Month, we'll share the best telehealth service and what they can do to help you with mental health concerns. According to NPR , the Fore people ate their dead instead of burying them to protect them from worms and maggots.
Better in the stomach of a loved one than in the stomach of a grub, so the Fore thought. Even better was the stomach of a female loved one, because her body could tame the dead's spirit.
So the women scooped out the brains to cook and roasted the bodies, sneaking tidbits to their young children. And they were getting really sick. The disease, called kuru , caused the ill to lose control of their bodies and their emotions. Eventually, they died. What baffled researchers, according to NPR, was that kuru wasn't a virus or a living bacteria. Instead, it was a strange process that researchers compared to Dr.
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