- Note - Dr. Patricia Doyle and I have been stating this
issue clearly for over ten years. What is really amusing is that no one
dares look at beef gelatin capsules used in countless thousands of supplements
and prescriptions. In fact, the list of products using parts of cattle
is staggering. Take a good look! http://www.rense.com/general6/cow.htm
- JR
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- © Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
- 4-6-9
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- EDMONTON -- New research
shows the infectious prions associated with chronic wasting disease can
be found in a substance that's used to make nutritional supplements.
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- The discovery is prompting one organization to demand
an emergency recall of the products, though the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency says there's no reason to worry.
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- Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, is a fatal disease that
spreads among species in the deer family. Like mad cow disease, the killer
involved is a prion - a tiny, infectious agent that, unlike a virus or
bacterium, is made up entirely of protein and contains no nucleic acid.
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- The new discovery of prions in antler velvet of CWD-afflicted
elk suggests this tissue may play a role in disease transmission among
members of the deer family, including elk, said the study, which will be
published in the Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal in May.
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- "Humans who consume antler velvet as a nutritional
supplement are at risk for exposure to prions," the study said.
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- The Canadian Food Inspection Agency collaborated on the
study with scientists from the University of Kentucky Medical Center, Colorado
State University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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- The results of the study are not surprising, given that
the prions have been found in blood and nervous tissues, and antler velvet
is rich in nerves and blood, said Dr. Cornelius Kiley, senior veterinarian
with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
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- But Kiley said people who consume nutritional supplements
made from antler velvet don't need to worry.
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- "Based upon the scientific evidence at this time,
they should not be concerned."
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- There is no scientific evidence that CWD is transmissible
to humans, he said.
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- In Alberta and Saskatchewan, all elk over 12 months of
age that go to slaughter must be tested for CWD, he explained. Currently,
there are no tests for live animals, and velvet comes from live animals.
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- But Darrel Rowledge, director of the Calgary-based Alliance
for Public Wildlife, is convinced these measures aren't enough.
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- Rowledge, who has followed the CWD issue for 20 years,
said his organization is in the midst of drafting a letter to Prime Minister
Stephen Harper, asking him to start an emergency recall of all velvet products,
both for humans and animals.
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- Rowledge said it's utterly irresponsible to say there's
no evidence the CWD can infect humans.
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- "An absence of evidence is not evidence of absence,"
he said, "so we can't prove that it has happened, but that doesn't
indicate that it can't happen."
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- Rowledge noted the prions would not be destroyed in the
process used to create the nutritional supplements. One study showed that
prions could survive being cooked at 600 C.
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- Kiley said there are two ongoing studies seeking to get
closer to that question of whether or not primates can be infected by CWD.
The tests are being done on non-human primates. It will take three to five
years before the results are known, because the disease has a long incubation
period, he said.
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- "There is no evidence, but it's only by doing the
research, and doing it extensively, where you can start to speak in absolute
terms. And the world's not there yet with CWD."
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- The capsules at the Optimum Health Centre in Edmonton
are produced in Alberta, and are used mostly by men to boost testosterone
levels, said Elaine Doucette, the store manager.
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- "We're not at this point going to pull it off the
shelf, because we haven't seen a reason to do that."
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- Edmonton Journal
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- hbrooymans@thejournal.canwest.com
- © Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
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- http://www.canada.com/Health/Recall+urged+nutritional+suppl
ements+after+wasting+disease+find/1462698/story.html
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- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural
Economics Univ of West Indies Please visit my "Emerging Diseases"
message board at: http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also my
new website: http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
Go with God and in Good Health
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