Mad Cow Disease is Not a Large Cause for Fear :: CJD MCD BSE Prion Diseases Bovine Spongiform

worked up Cow Disease A Cause for attention?Abstract Mad Cow Disease, a disorder well know and well fe atomic number 18d, is not as deadly as most throng believe it to be. In fact, most people know superficial of this indisposition and what little they knowusu aloney turn out to be irrational facts. MCD is a prion-based disease where an infected protein convertshealthy proteins into the infected state. There is no cure and the disease is dark but to this year, therehave been little over 150 cases of the human version of the disease, variant Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease,world-wide. Thus, MCD does not merit the fear and attention that it commands.Although the name, Mad Cow Disease is instantly perceptible by everyone today, few peopleknow it for what it actually is. However, no occasion how little they know about this disease, everybodyacknowledges the deadly capabilities it possesses. Personally, I find it fire and feel it only intrinsic that, as humans, we fear what we do n ot entirely understand simply because we know what willhappen. It is only natural that we feel threatened at the first sign of danger. Thus, it is important to asseverate others about Mad Cow Disease so that they will at least know what they fear.Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, commonly known as Mad Cow Disease, first appeared around1985 in Great Britain as a result of the special animal feed that consisted of ground up sheep feed to thecattle. Between the years 1992 and 1995, a major BSE outbreak occurred in Great Britain, which causedthe countrys beef industry to suffer. Since 2003, the United States have only had one-third reportedincidents of mad cow disease in humans8.A prion is a disease-carrying agent that is composed entirely of proteins. It is the cause ofnumerous diseases in mammals, all of which target the brain specifically. Also note that all prion-baseddisorders are fatal and that there are currently no known cures for any of them. every(prenominal) known prionsin duce the formation of an amyloid fold, in which the protein polymerizes into an aggregate consistingof tightly packed beta sheets3 thus, converting into its infectious state.BSE is a prion-based disease where the infectious protein causes other prion proteins in the brain tomisfold and change into the infectious state. Thisprocess continues until it forms proteinaggregates, which are large clumps of mis-foldedproteins which in turn form plaque, giving theappearance of holes in the brain. Cows withthis disease show signs including changes inmental state and abnormalities in posture,movement and sensation4.