If you are what you eat, then why is cannibalism bad for you? If you are what you eat, then why is cannibalism so bad for you? Well throughout history, many of us know cannibalism as the consumption of human flesh and meat. But, do any of us really know how it affects our bodies? Studies show that the act of cannibalism in both ritualistic and non-ritualistic practices later turns into generations of life-long deadly diseases. This is all caused by a deadly little prion, which can be referred to as Spongiform Encephalies. Spongiform encephalies causes the brain to become spongy and have holes while deteriorating the neurological functions along with the body’s biological process (“Kuru: The Dynamics of a Prion Disease”: Dr. Bindon). Prions …show more content…
Symptoms of Kuru vary through the stages as the disease progresses, starting with the ambulant stage. The ambulant stage starts off with the unsteadiness in the voice, hands, eyes, and gait, along with detrition in speech, tremors and shivers, and poor coordination with dysarthria (“Kuru: The Dynamics of a Prion Disease”: Dr. Bindon). The second stage is the sedentary stage which results in sever tremors, loss of coordination, jitters, and emotional liability: bazar outburst in laughter, depression, and mental slowing (“Kuru: The Dynamics of a Prion Disease”: Dr. Bindon). Then there is the final stage in Kuru which is know as the terminal stage that renders you with the ability to sit up, a increased loss in muscle coordination, sever tremors, slurred speech, urinary problems, difficulty swallowing, and large ulcers appear (“Kuru: The Dynamics of a Prion Disease”: Dr. Bindon). Within all of these stages the prions have caused massive neurological damage and degeneration, then within the course of a year off all these symptoms the victim dies (“The Dangers of Cannibalism”: Ellington, Andy). As of now there is no known cure for Kuru (Why Cannibalism is Bad for You: Hayes, …show more content…
The name transmissible encephalopathy comes from the spongy holes that are visible from a microscopic view (Mayco Clinic). This occurs when proteins become misshapen and infectious, then harming the bodies biological process (Mayco Clinic). Now, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies can come in various forms affecting both humans and animals by deteriorating the brains neurological functions and the body’s biological process (Mayco
In bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the disease is caused by the misfolding of proteins that cause proteins and peptides to develop a fibrillary structure. The PrPc is a correctly folded prion and the misfolded form is called PrPSc. BSE occurs when the normal PrPc come into contact with the toxic PrPSc and the normal prion takes on the shape of the PrPSc. The normal chaperones are unable to convert the PrPSc back to the normal form. The PrPSc now takes on the role of chaperone and the conversion of PrPc prions continue over and over. PrPSc, now being hydrophobic avoids the water of the inner cell and begin to accumulate and form plaques along the neuronal cell membranes. The aggregation of the prions on the cell membrane eventually lead to cell death which produces the sponge-like appearance in the brain of cattle infected with BSE (Thompson, 2014).
Humans have to deal with many different diseases and the ones most disliked are the ones with no cures. Like cancer, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies have no cure, but they are more rare. These diseases are prion diseases which cause the brain to deteriorate. Prions are proteins that sometimes behave like viruses, which mean that they should have some form of nucleic acid, but since they don’t, they cause abnormalities. The nervous system contains many normal prions, but when an abnormal prion comes along, it transforms all the normal prions into abnormal ones. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is found in cattle, but it can be transmitted to humans.
Encephalomalacia is a condition that’s characterized by the softening of brain tissue due to inflammation or hemorrhage. Encephalomalacia is regarded as one of the most serious types of brain condition that can bring irreversible damage and affect the normal function of the body as a whole. In some cases, the brain is known to deteriorate and this often leads to extensive softening of the substances within. This softening can be in one specific area or spread to other areas. Tissue and organ damage is possible and may easily occur during this condition within the occipital lobe, frontal lobe, temporal lobe and parietal lobe. Effects within this specific part of the brain cause immediate stoppage of functions and is known as cerebral softening.
Every year 10 days before Saint Patrick’s Day the campus of Missouri University of Science and Technology demonstrates a strange tradition known as snake pits. Snake pits typically consist of freshmen fraternity members whacking snakes with huge decorated sticks known as shillelaghs a certain amount of times. The number of times they whack the snake is correlated to how many years it has been since 1908 which is the year snake pits started. Each time they whack the snake they count up screaming “nth best ever Saint Pats”. After they hit their current year they have to answer a question and if they get the question correct they get to keep the head of the snake and if they get the question wrong they have to restart. Though it might seem weird, snake pits are taken very seriously on the Missouri University of Science and Technology campus and it serves a purpose.
put your opinion in e.g. I believe this perspective can help an individual who has a fear or phobia by seeing why the individual is so scared. I also think that the behaviourist perspective can help measure changes of a behaviour. On the other hand I feel that the behaviourist perspective doesn’t take in the biological perspective.
There are two varieties of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. One is classical and the other is atypical. Contaminated meat-and-bone meal, which comes from infected bovine whose body is used to make bovine feed, transfers to the herd that eats this infected feed product. Known organs that contain this prion are spinal cord, brain and ileum. Atypical happens to bovine that are older than eight years, and it has nothing to do with eating the contaminated food product. For no known reason, older bovines can get infected with this disease.
In the early 1900’s, the Fore tribe was struck with an epidemic of Kuru, a brain eating disorder that causes shaking, and furthermore the name “Kuru” in the means shaking or trembling in a literal sense. The Fore spread this disease a fair bit, specifically due to their cannibalistic funeral practices of eating the remains of the dead, and specifically the brain (Bichell, Rae Ellen 2016). However, the presence of Prions have been around for eras, but the discovery in the Fore tribe spearheaded the movement to learn more about them. Eventually in 1982, the “Prion protein” was discovered by Stanley Prusiner, eventually earning him the Nobel Prize in 1997 for his proof of the lack of DNA or RNA in the protein, juxtaposed to bacteria and viruses (Prion Alliance, 2016). As the amount of diseases discovered increased, it became eerily known that the Prion disease in humans and animals were all caused by one original misfolded protein, PrPsc. Despite a common origin, pinning down a solution to the problems of Prions is an extremely complex issue. With an extreme resistance to everything, Prions opens the question of sanitization in hospitals. If a doctor were to be working with a Prion-contaminated sample, the tools used may be thought to be completely clean, yet Prions being highly resistant would persevere against normal
In both my body and your’s there are these things called prions which occur normally in humans but when folded incorrectly, they are harmful to the body. These incorrectly folded prions then go on and alter other normal prions by actually changing the structure of the prion’s alpha helical regions into beta pleated sheets. If these altered prions are in your brain, they build up in your neurons and cluster together with each other eventually causing neuron loss and other brain damage. This continued brain damage and neuron loss leads to holes in the brain giving it the consistency of a
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are neurodegenerative diseases that are thought to be caused by the misfolding of prion proteins. Prions are able to replicate in the absence of nucleic acids. TSEs include: scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, kuru, Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease, and Fatal Familial Insomnia. They can affect many different animals, including humans. Currently, there are no ways to diagnose, treat, or cure TSEs, as much more research is needed before these diseases are completely understood.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that causes rapid degeneration of the cerebral cortex (the outer layer of tissue surrounding the brain). It is closely related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or “mad cow disease” in its pathology. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is often called the human version of BSE and is therefore assumed that it has crossed the species barrier from cattle to man. In the early stages of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, it is found that patients have a failing memory, behaviour changes, impaired coordination and vision problems. As the disease progresses into the later stages, the mental deterioration becomes severe. The patients experience uncontrollable movements, blindness, and weakness and
Creutzfedlt-Jakob Disease(CJD) is a rare, non-treatable, and fatal brain disorder caused by a prion, a pathogen that is smaller than a virus. The causative agent of Creutzfedlt-Jakob Disease is very difficult, almost impossible to destory. The casusative agent is a clear watery fluid that fills the space between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mater. Per year, Creutzfedlt-Jakob Disease effects one in every one million people worldwide, in the United States there are around 300 cases. There are 3 catagories of Creutzfedlt-Jakob Disease; The most common being sporadic CJD(the disease appears even though the person has no common risk factors for CJD), Hereditary CJD, and the least common acquired CJD(caused by exposure to the brain or nervous
Author Beata Sikorska writes a chapter on this disease in the book Neurodegenerative Diseases, she discusses how this rare disease is caused by an abnormal piece of protein (PrP) called a prion (Sikorska, 2012). A prion is an infectious particle made of proteins and the specific protein PrP is the human gene encoding expressed mostly in the nervous system. Proteins are made up by a string of amino acids that fold and form a 3-D shape; the shape the amino acids take gives these proteins it’s function. When a protein does not fold properly it does not function or can become destructive. The human body has specific mechanisms to protect itself from many different types of infections; one of these mechanisms is the blood brain barrier. This barrier blocks harmful substances from entering the brain while allowing necessary nutrients in this includes allowing PrP proteins to enter. Marie-Clare Porter describes the process of CJD in the British Journal of Anesthesia as a prion which is also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, are a group of neurodegenerative conditions that are transmissible, progressive and uniformly fatal (Porter, 2013). Once a prion enters the brain it can infect other normal proteins causing them to lose function and become destructive. As the affected brain cells continue to die they leave tiny sponge-like holes; these holes eventually lead to the signs and symptoms of CJD and are
This accounts for about 5% - 10% of cases in the United States. The last category of acquiring CJD is infectious CJD which occurs when an individual is exposed to an external source of prion protein. Common outside sources which may cause infectious CJD are medical procedures involving surgical instruments, growth hormone from human sources and certain transplanted human tissues. Another cause is ingestion of meat or other products from cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (also known as mad cow disease). In the mid 1990’s scientists traced this type of CJD from cattle that were fed a diet comprised of processed brain tissue from other animals to individuals who consumed the beef. However, since its first description, less than 1% of cases were identified by acquiring the disease through exposure (Gozke et al. 2008). Below is a chart demonstrating the numbers of individuals diagnosed with CJD through the three categories described above in several different countries (“BSE Info”, 2007):
In the novel, Animal Farm, George Orwell shapes a tale of mistreated farm animals who overthrow their cruel and abusive owners while chasing their dream of equality and life without oppression. However, after the humans are finally chased out, the pigs rise up to power, ruling over their less intelligent peers. The pigs tell lies to deceive the animals and hide the truth. Some of the pigs are so thirsty for power that they will even betray their fellow pigs for more power and support. The pigs’ rule becomes more and more oppressive, however the animals don’t realize that they are being deceived, for their brains are muddled by the lies told by the pigs. Through manipulating the truth and the pigs lying to the rest of the animals, one learns that corrupt leaders twist the truth to make others support them and their ideals.
1. - The man fights with his wife - The wife leaves the man and the boy to die, she gives up - A caravan comes across the man and the boy and the man shoots one of the strangers who is threatening the boy’s life - The man and the boy find the hideout that is stocked with the supplies - The man and the boy come across a group of cannibals and marauders - The man and the boy arrive on the coast and it is as desolate as the rest of the world - They discover an abandoned boat that washed ashore - They boy’s father dies in the woods off the coast a little ways - A man finds the boy alone and offers for him to join his family -