Posted on Jun 4, 2015
How many other veterans and service members are not permitted to donate blood? Why?
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What Happened to Mad Cow Disease?
If you were around in the '90s, you might remember the scare over mad cow disease, but it seems to have quieted down in the intervening years. What happened?...
I try to give back to the people of this nation as I am able. I used to donate blood regularly; but because I was stationed in Germany in the early 1980's when some beef in military mess halls came from cows with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) [Mad Cow] I can no longer donate blood because we have become infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD); "Mad Cow Disease." I learned recently that people with HIV can now donate blood - per conversation with Red Cross POC, efforts were funded to come up with a way that HIV positive people can donate blood. That saddened me and made me mad. Bovine spongiform can only be tested through autopsy right now. Many of those of us who served in Europe during the latter part of the cold war have not been able to donate blood. I hope that NIH will make in a priority and obtain funding to develop ways to test for bovine spongiform in people through a blood test.
[Note: I updated the question from "veterans" to "Veterans and service members" on June 6, 2015 - 71st anniversary of D Day - Operation Overlord]
[update May 18, 2018] As of 2017, worldwide 230 people, roughly 180 in the UK have been infected with vCJD and 4 people in the USA have been infected.
Mad Cow and VCJD are nervous system diseases which are based on diseased prions [not the car]. Diseased prions binds to proteins and converts them to prions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxojz6grwcU
Thanks to 1SG (Join to see) for alerting me that "there is progress in the development of methods to detect misfolded proteins in the bloodstream" I did research and found the following at an NIH site.
As this article informs us there has been progress in control groups testing of "developed blood tests to detect prion." The article states that there are plans to "validate their methods using larger samples sizes."
Hopefully this process will be successful to detect whether or not we have been infected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD); "Mad Cow Disease."
"Prion diseases are a group of rare, fatal brain diseases that affect animals and humans. They are caused by normally harmless proteins that become abnormal and form clumps in the brain. One form, called variant CJD (vCJD), is associated with eating meat from cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as “mad cow” disease.
People may have vCJD for years before symptoms—such as depression, hallucinations, moving difficulties, and dementia—appear. These “silent” carriers have small amounts of prions in their bloodstreams and can transmit the disease to others via blood transfusions. The only current method to diagnose vCJD is to perform a biopsy or a postmortem analysis of brain tissue. Thus, a noninvasive test to detect prions in blood is a medical priority.
Two research groups recently developed blood tests to detect prions. The results appeared in a pair of papers published on December 21, 2016, in Science Translational Medicine. One of the groups, led by Dr. Claudio Soto of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, was funded in part by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
Prions are scarce in the bloodstream and difficult to measure. Both teams developed methods to amplify the prions in blood samples using a technique called protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA). PMCA relies on the characteristic nature of prions to cause certain healthy proteins to clump abnormally and convert into prions.
Soto’s group first combined healthy proteins with known concentrations of infectious vCJD prions. They intermittently agitated these mixtures with sound waves. The agitation helped break the prions into smaller chunks. This increased the number of prions that could then convert healthy proteins into prions. Using this method, the scientists were able to detect more than a billion-fold dilution of prions using an anti-prion antibody.
The scientists next tested whether the technique could be used to detect prions in blood samples from 14 people with vCJD and 153 controls. The controls included healthy people as well as people with different neurological or neurodegenerative disorders, including sporadic CJD, the most common form of CJD. The assay flagged all the vCJD samples correctly.
In the second paper, a French research group described a similar approach testing a blinded panel of blood samples. That team identified 18 vCJD patients in a group of 256 samples.
“Our findings, which need to be confirmed in further studies, suggest that our method of detection could be useful for the noninvasive diagnosis of this disease in pre-symptomatic individuals,” Soto says. Early diagnosis would allow potential therapies to be tested before substantial brain damage occurred. This technique would also allow blood contaminated with prions to be detected and removed from the blood supply.
Both teams are now working to validate their methods using larger samples sizes.
―by Anita Ramanathan
nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/new-method-accurately-detects-prions-blood
~793507:LTC Bill Koski] CW5 (Join to see) MSG Brad Sand SGM Steve Wettstein SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SP5 Mark Kuzinski SrA Christopher Wright PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO1 John Miller SP5 Robert Ruck SPC (Join to see) PO3 Steven Sherrill SN Greg Wright Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey TSgt Joe C. Cpl Joshua Caldwell SGT Michael Thorin SP5 Dave (Shotgun) Shockley SPC Margaret Higgins
[Note: I updated the question from "veterans" to "Veterans and service members" on June 6, 2015 - 71st anniversary of D Day - Operation Overlord]
[update May 18, 2018] As of 2017, worldwide 230 people, roughly 180 in the UK have been infected with vCJD and 4 people in the USA have been infected.
Mad Cow and VCJD are nervous system diseases which are based on diseased prions [not the car]. Diseased prions binds to proteins and converts them to prions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxojz6grwcU
Thanks to 1SG (Join to see) for alerting me that "there is progress in the development of methods to detect misfolded proteins in the bloodstream" I did research and found the following at an NIH site.
As this article informs us there has been progress in control groups testing of "developed blood tests to detect prion." The article states that there are plans to "validate their methods using larger samples sizes."
Hopefully this process will be successful to detect whether or not we have been infected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD); "Mad Cow Disease."
"Prion diseases are a group of rare, fatal brain diseases that affect animals and humans. They are caused by normally harmless proteins that become abnormal and form clumps in the brain. One form, called variant CJD (vCJD), is associated with eating meat from cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as “mad cow” disease.
People may have vCJD for years before symptoms—such as depression, hallucinations, moving difficulties, and dementia—appear. These “silent” carriers have small amounts of prions in their bloodstreams and can transmit the disease to others via blood transfusions. The only current method to diagnose vCJD is to perform a biopsy or a postmortem analysis of brain tissue. Thus, a noninvasive test to detect prions in blood is a medical priority.
Two research groups recently developed blood tests to detect prions. The results appeared in a pair of papers published on December 21, 2016, in Science Translational Medicine. One of the groups, led by Dr. Claudio Soto of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, was funded in part by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
Prions are scarce in the bloodstream and difficult to measure. Both teams developed methods to amplify the prions in blood samples using a technique called protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA). PMCA relies on the characteristic nature of prions to cause certain healthy proteins to clump abnormally and convert into prions.
Soto’s group first combined healthy proteins with known concentrations of infectious vCJD prions. They intermittently agitated these mixtures with sound waves. The agitation helped break the prions into smaller chunks. This increased the number of prions that could then convert healthy proteins into prions. Using this method, the scientists were able to detect more than a billion-fold dilution of prions using an anti-prion antibody.
The scientists next tested whether the technique could be used to detect prions in blood samples from 14 people with vCJD and 153 controls. The controls included healthy people as well as people with different neurological or neurodegenerative disorders, including sporadic CJD, the most common form of CJD. The assay flagged all the vCJD samples correctly.
In the second paper, a French research group described a similar approach testing a blinded panel of blood samples. That team identified 18 vCJD patients in a group of 256 samples.
“Our findings, which need to be confirmed in further studies, suggest that our method of detection could be useful for the noninvasive diagnosis of this disease in pre-symptomatic individuals,” Soto says. Early diagnosis would allow potential therapies to be tested before substantial brain damage occurred. This technique would also allow blood contaminated with prions to be detected and removed from the blood supply.
Both teams are now working to validate their methods using larger samples sizes.
―by Anita Ramanathan
nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/new-method-accurately-detects-prions-blood
~793507:LTC Bill Koski] CW5 (Join to see) MSG Brad Sand SGM Steve Wettstein SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SP5 Mark Kuzinski SrA Christopher Wright PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO1 John Miller SP5 Robert Ruck SPC (Join to see) PO3 Steven Sherrill SN Greg Wright Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey TSgt Joe C. Cpl Joshua Caldwell SGT Michael Thorin SP5 Dave (Shotgun) Shockley SPC Margaret Higgins
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Edited 6 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 249
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Thankfully, I was not stationed in Europe or anywhere else that restricted my ability to give blood. I still travel outside the country and have to answer the questionnaire every time. It is getting harder to give blood no matter who you are.
For those of you who were stationed in places where you are no longer eligible, thanks for wanting to donate, but remember, it is better to not give than infect someone due to not knowing for sure. The only way we will know for sure is by autopsy and that is way too late!
For those of you who were stationed in places where you are no longer eligible, thanks for wanting to donate, but remember, it is better to not give than infect someone due to not knowing for sure. The only way we will know for sure is by autopsy and that is way too late!
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LTC Stephen F.
Thank you for responding my friend CMDCM Gene Treants with wise counsel.
Being honest on the Red Cross questionnaires and answering pertinent questions is critical. I had 15 units of blood transfused on March 11/12 2003 during complications in my mitral valve repair surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center while I was mobilized.
At the time I could not donate nay more since I had been stationed in Germany for over 3 years during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic. HIV is still the biggest risk with Hepatitis coming in near the top.
FYI SSG Diane R.LTC John GriscomSPC Andrew Ross
Brig Gen Jim JaegerSSG Donald H "Don" BatesSP5 Jerry MuchaSP6: Roy WiltSGT John MeredithMSgt John McGowanMSgt David M.LTC Jeff ShearerSGT Philip RoncariCPT Jim GallagherLt Col Jim CoeCWO3 Dennis M.SGT (Join to see)PO3 Bob McCord(Join to see)COL George Woods
Being honest on the Red Cross questionnaires and answering pertinent questions is critical. I had 15 units of blood transfused on March 11/12 2003 during complications in my mitral valve repair surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center while I was mobilized.
At the time I could not donate nay more since I had been stationed in Germany for over 3 years during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic. HIV is still the biggest risk with Hepatitis coming in near the top.
FYI SSG Diane R.LTC John GriscomSPC Andrew Ross
Brig Gen Jim JaegerSSG Donald H "Don" BatesSP5 Jerry MuchaSP6: Roy WiltSGT John MeredithMSgt John McGowanMSgt David M.LTC Jeff ShearerSGT Philip RoncariCPT Jim GallagherLt Col Jim CoeCWO3 Dennis M.SGT (Join to see)PO3 Bob McCord(Join to see)COL George Woods
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Gelnhausen 1988-1990. All this time I thought I was just upset by the state of American politics, or lack thereof. Turns out the Cook had the last laugh on all of moo. No wonder I like drinking milk so much.
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LTC Stephen F.
Thanks SSG (Join to see) for weighing in on this discussion. I expect you are still verboten from donating blood since you were stationed in Gelnhausen, Deutschland from 1988 to 1990.
It seems you have good sense of humor. Perhaps if you ever get into the "cattle trailer" which transports soldier I expect you would begin mooing :-)
Image: "Cattle Truck"
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Orlando Illi LTC (Join to see) LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq. Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Jeff S. CPT Jack Durish MSG Dan Walther MSgt Robert C Aldi SFC Stephen King MSgt Danny Hope SGT Gregory Lawritson Cpl Craig Marton SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT (Join to see) Maj Marty Hogan PO3 Steven Sherrill
It seems you have good sense of humor. Perhaps if you ever get into the "cattle trailer" which transports soldier I expect you would begin mooing :-)
Image: "Cattle Truck"
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Orlando Illi LTC (Join to see) LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq. Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Jeff S. CPT Jack Durish MSG Dan Walther MSgt Robert C Aldi SFC Stephen King MSgt Danny Hope SGT Gregory Lawritson Cpl Craig Marton SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT (Join to see) Maj Marty Hogan PO3 Steven Sherrill
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LTC Stephen F.
CW5 Jack Cardwell Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy became a risk in the early 1980s in military mess halls particularly in Germany. The risk was finally eradicated in 1996 per note from DOD
http://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45103
http://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45103
Defense.gov News Article: DoD Says Troops in Europe Safe From 'Mad Cow'
The content available is no longer being updated and may no longer be applicable as a result of changes in law, regulation and/or administration. If you wish to see the latest content, please visit the current version of the site.
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I haven't. I tried less than a year after getting back from Iraq and was told I had to wait a certain amount of time. Since then, I've had no problem and have donated platelets as well.
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Wow... This should be considered an immediate 100% disability because of the huge health effects it could have on the Service Member and his family... This could be the reason for the rise in dementia...
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Stationed in Italy during this time period got me removed from the blood donor list...
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LTC Stephen F.
Thank you for responding SSG David Phetteplace and making us aware that you were stationed in Italy for a period of more than 3 months between January 1, 1980 through 1996. Like many of us the possibility that you were exposed to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) [Mad Cow] infected beef and yet have no symptoms of the human variant vCJD and as of now there is no way to determine if we have it or not outside of an autopsy, is sad.
Hopefully in the coming decade we may once be able to donate blood because two studies are focused on determining if people are infected by diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) [Mad Cow].
Below is the background:
Thanks to SFC William Squires for alerting me that "there is progress in the development of methods to detect misfolded proteins in the bloodstream" I did research and found the following at an NIH site.
As this article informs us there has been progress in control groups testing of "developed blood tests to detect prion." The article states that there are plans to "validate their methods using larger samples sizes."
Hopefully this process will be successful to detect whether or not we have been infected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD); "Mad Cow Disease."
"Prion diseases are a group of rare, fatal brain diseases that affect animals and humans. They are caused by normally harmless proteins that become abnormal and form clumps in the brain. One form, called variant CJD (vCJD), is associated with eating meat from cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as “mad cow” disease.
People may have vCJD for years before symptoms—such as depression, hallucinations, moving difficulties, and dementia—appear. These “silent” carriers have small amounts of prions in their bloodstreams and can transmit the disease to others via blood transfusions. The only current method to diagnose vCJD is to perform a biopsy or a postmortem analysis of brain tissue. Thus, a noninvasive test to detect prions in blood is a medical priority.
Two research groups recently developed blood tests to detect prions. The results appeared in a pair of papers published on December 21, 2016, in Science Translational Medicine. One of the groups, led by Dr. Claudio Soto of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, was funded in part by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
Prions are scarce in the bloodstream and difficult to measure. Both teams developed methods to amplify the prions in blood samples using a technique called protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA). PMCA relies on the characteristic nature of prions to cause certain healthy proteins to clump abnormally and convert into prions.
Soto’s group first combined healthy proteins with known concentrations of infectious vCJD prions. They intermittently agitated these mixtures with sound waves. The agitation helped break the prions into smaller chunks. This increased the number of prions that could then convert healthy proteins into prions. Using this method, the scientists were able to detect more than a billion-fold dilution of prions using an anti-prion antibody.
The scientists next tested whether the technique could be used to detect prions in blood samples from 14 people with vCJD and 153 controls. The controls included healthy people as well as people with different neurological or neurodegenerative disorders, including sporadic CJD, the most common form of CJD. The assay flagged all the vCJD samples correctly.
In the second paper, a French research group described a similar approach testing a blinded panel of blood samples. That team identified 18 vCJD patients in a group of 256 samples.
“Our findings, which need to be confirmed in further studies, suggest that our method of detection could be useful for the noninvasive diagnosis of this disease in pre-symptomatic individuals,” Soto says. Early diagnosis would allow potential therapies to be tested before substantial brain damage occurred. This technique would also allow blood contaminated with prions to be detected and removed from the blood supply.
Both teams are now working to validate their methods using larger samples sizes.
―by Anita Ramanathan
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/new-method-accurately-detects-prions-blood
FYI LTC John Griscom LTC Wayne Brandon CPT Jim Gallagher] 1SG John Millan MSgt John McGowanMSgt David M. SSgt Boyd HerrstSSG Diane R.SPC Andrew RossSSG Donald H "Don" BatesSP5 Jerry MuchaSGT John Meredith Sgt (Join to see) LCpl Emanuel W. SPC William WeedmanPO3 Steven Sherrill LTC Bill Koski SGM Steve Wettstein
Hopefully in the coming decade we may once be able to donate blood because two studies are focused on determining if people are infected by diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) [Mad Cow].
Below is the background:
Thanks to SFC William Squires for alerting me that "there is progress in the development of methods to detect misfolded proteins in the bloodstream" I did research and found the following at an NIH site.
As this article informs us there has been progress in control groups testing of "developed blood tests to detect prion." The article states that there are plans to "validate their methods using larger samples sizes."
Hopefully this process will be successful to detect whether or not we have been infected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD); "Mad Cow Disease."
"Prion diseases are a group of rare, fatal brain diseases that affect animals and humans. They are caused by normally harmless proteins that become abnormal and form clumps in the brain. One form, called variant CJD (vCJD), is associated with eating meat from cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as “mad cow” disease.
People may have vCJD for years before symptoms—such as depression, hallucinations, moving difficulties, and dementia—appear. These “silent” carriers have small amounts of prions in their bloodstreams and can transmit the disease to others via blood transfusions. The only current method to diagnose vCJD is to perform a biopsy or a postmortem analysis of brain tissue. Thus, a noninvasive test to detect prions in blood is a medical priority.
Two research groups recently developed blood tests to detect prions. The results appeared in a pair of papers published on December 21, 2016, in Science Translational Medicine. One of the groups, led by Dr. Claudio Soto of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, was funded in part by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
Prions are scarce in the bloodstream and difficult to measure. Both teams developed methods to amplify the prions in blood samples using a technique called protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA). PMCA relies on the characteristic nature of prions to cause certain healthy proteins to clump abnormally and convert into prions.
Soto’s group first combined healthy proteins with known concentrations of infectious vCJD prions. They intermittently agitated these mixtures with sound waves. The agitation helped break the prions into smaller chunks. This increased the number of prions that could then convert healthy proteins into prions. Using this method, the scientists were able to detect more than a billion-fold dilution of prions using an anti-prion antibody.
The scientists next tested whether the technique could be used to detect prions in blood samples from 14 people with vCJD and 153 controls. The controls included healthy people as well as people with different neurological or neurodegenerative disorders, including sporadic CJD, the most common form of CJD. The assay flagged all the vCJD samples correctly.
In the second paper, a French research group described a similar approach testing a blinded panel of blood samples. That team identified 18 vCJD patients in a group of 256 samples.
“Our findings, which need to be confirmed in further studies, suggest that our method of detection could be useful for the noninvasive diagnosis of this disease in pre-symptomatic individuals,” Soto says. Early diagnosis would allow potential therapies to be tested before substantial brain damage occurred. This technique would also allow blood contaminated with prions to be detected and removed from the blood supply.
Both teams are now working to validate their methods using larger samples sizes.
―by Anita Ramanathan
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/new-method-accurately-detects-prions-blood
FYI LTC John Griscom LTC Wayne Brandon CPT Jim Gallagher] 1SG John Millan MSgt John McGowanMSgt David M. SSgt Boyd HerrstSSG Diane R.SPC Andrew RossSSG Donald H "Don" BatesSP5 Jerry MuchaSGT John Meredith Sgt (Join to see) LCpl Emanuel W. SPC William WeedmanPO3 Steven Sherrill LTC Bill Koski SGM Steve Wettstein
New method accurately detects prions in blood
A sensitive blood test accurately detected variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, an incurable and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. The method could be used to diagnose prion diseases and prevent disease transmission.
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LTC Stephen F.
FYI my friend SSG David Phetteplace it appears the rules for donating blood have changed. Only those living or being stationed in the British Isles, of France or Ireland for 5 or more years are restricted based on living or being stationed in Europe.
Based on the American Red Cross from June 30, 2021
https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements/eligibility-criteria-alphabetical/eligibility-reference-material.html
It seems that being stationed or being a dependent in Germany, Turkey and other duty stations in Europe [outside of the Great Britain, Ireland and France [for 5 years or more] has been lifted from the prohibition for donating blood lists.
At this time, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) donor eligibility rules related to vCJD are as follows:
You are not eligible to donate if
From January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1996, you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more, in any country in the United Kingdom (UK),
Channel Islands England Falkland Islands Gibraltar Isle of Man Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
From January 1, 1980, to present, you had a blood transfusion in any of the countries listed below:
France Ireland Channel Islands England Falkland Islands Gibraltar Isle of Man Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
You spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 5 years or more from January 1, 1980, through December 31, 2001, in France or Ireland.
Based on the American Red Cross from June 30, 2021
https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements/eligibility-criteria-alphabetical/eligibility-reference-material.html
It seems that being stationed or being a dependent in Germany, Turkey and other duty stations in Europe [outside of the Great Britain, Ireland and France [for 5 years or more] has been lifted from the prohibition for donating blood lists.
At this time, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) donor eligibility rules related to vCJD are as follows:
You are not eligible to donate if
From January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1996, you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more, in any country in the United Kingdom (UK),
Channel Islands England Falkland Islands Gibraltar Isle of Man Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
From January 1, 1980, to present, you had a blood transfusion in any of the countries listed below:
France Ireland Channel Islands England Falkland Islands Gibraltar Isle of Man Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
You spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 5 years or more from January 1, 1980, through December 31, 2001, in France or Ireland.
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SSG David Phetteplace
Thanks for the follow-up and update. Seems like we would have shown symptoms years ago if my wife and I were infected. I had just resigned myself to being off the donation list forever.
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Thanks to 1SG (Join to see) for alerting me that "there is progress in the development of methods to detect misfolded proteins in the bloodstream" I did research and found the following at an NIH site.
As this article informs us there has been progress in control groups testing of "developed blood tests to detect prion." The article states that there are plans to "validate their methods using larger samples sizes."
Hopefully this process will be successful to detect whether or not we have been infected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD); "Mad Cow Disease."
"Prion diseases are a group of rare, fatal brain diseases that affect animals and humans. They are caused by normally harmless proteins that become abnormal and form clumps in the brain. One form, called variant CJD (vCJD), is associated with eating meat from cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as “mad cow” disease.
People may have vCJD for years before symptoms—such as depression, hallucinations, moving difficulties, and dementia—appear. These “silent” carriers have small amounts of prions in their bloodstreams and can transmit the disease to others via blood transfusions. The only current method to diagnose vCJD is to perform a biopsy or a postmortem analysis of brain tissue. Thus, a noninvasive test to detect prions in blood is a medical priority.
Two research groups recently developed blood tests to detect prions. The results appeared in a pair of papers published on December 21, 2016, in Science Translational Medicine. One of the groups, led by Dr. Claudio Soto of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, was funded in part by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
Prions are scarce in the bloodstream and difficult to measure. Both teams developed methods to amplify the prions in blood samples using a technique called protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA). PMCA relies on the characteristic nature of prions to cause certain healthy proteins to clump abnormally and convert into prions.
Soto’s group first combined healthy proteins with known concentrations of infectious vCJD prions. They intermittently agitated these mixtures with sound waves. The agitation helped break the prions into smaller chunks. This increased the number of prions that could then convert healthy proteins into prions. Using this method, the scientists were able to detect more than a billion-fold dilution of prions using an anti-prion antibody.
The scientists next tested whether the technique could be used to detect prions in blood samples from 14 people with vCJD and 153 controls. The controls included healthy people as well as people with different neurological or neurodegenerative disorders, including sporadic CJD, the most common form of CJD. The assay flagged all the vCJD samples correctly.
In the second paper, a French research group described a similar approach testing a blinded panel of blood samples. That team identified 18 vCJD patients in a group of 256 samples.
“Our findings, which need to be confirmed in further studies, suggest that our method of detection could be useful for the noninvasive diagnosis of this disease in pre-symptomatic individuals,” Soto says. Early diagnosis would allow potential therapies to be tested before substantial brain damage occurred. This technique would also allow blood contaminated with prions to be detected and removed from the blood supply.
Both teams are now working to validate their methods using larger samples sizes.
―by Anita Ramanathan
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/new-method-accurately-detects-prions-blood
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F.
As this article informs us there has been progress in control groups testing of "developed blood tests to detect prion." The article states that there are plans to "validate their methods using larger samples sizes."
Hopefully this process will be successful to detect whether or not we have been infected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD); "Mad Cow Disease."
"Prion diseases are a group of rare, fatal brain diseases that affect animals and humans. They are caused by normally harmless proteins that become abnormal and form clumps in the brain. One form, called variant CJD (vCJD), is associated with eating meat from cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as “mad cow” disease.
People may have vCJD for years before symptoms—such as depression, hallucinations, moving difficulties, and dementia—appear. These “silent” carriers have small amounts of prions in their bloodstreams and can transmit the disease to others via blood transfusions. The only current method to diagnose vCJD is to perform a biopsy or a postmortem analysis of brain tissue. Thus, a noninvasive test to detect prions in blood is a medical priority.
Two research groups recently developed blood tests to detect prions. The results appeared in a pair of papers published on December 21, 2016, in Science Translational Medicine. One of the groups, led by Dr. Claudio Soto of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, was funded in part by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
Prions are scarce in the bloodstream and difficult to measure. Both teams developed methods to amplify the prions in blood samples using a technique called protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA). PMCA relies on the characteristic nature of prions to cause certain healthy proteins to clump abnormally and convert into prions.
Soto’s group first combined healthy proteins with known concentrations of infectious vCJD prions. They intermittently agitated these mixtures with sound waves. The agitation helped break the prions into smaller chunks. This increased the number of prions that could then convert healthy proteins into prions. Using this method, the scientists were able to detect more than a billion-fold dilution of prions using an anti-prion antibody.
The scientists next tested whether the technique could be used to detect prions in blood samples from 14 people with vCJD and 153 controls. The controls included healthy people as well as people with different neurological or neurodegenerative disorders, including sporadic CJD, the most common form of CJD. The assay flagged all the vCJD samples correctly.
In the second paper, a French research group described a similar approach testing a blinded panel of blood samples. That team identified 18 vCJD patients in a group of 256 samples.
“Our findings, which need to be confirmed in further studies, suggest that our method of detection could be useful for the noninvasive diagnosis of this disease in pre-symptomatic individuals,” Soto says. Early diagnosis would allow potential therapies to be tested before substantial brain damage occurred. This technique would also allow blood contaminated with prions to be detected and removed from the blood supply.
Both teams are now working to validate their methods using larger samples sizes.
―by Anita Ramanathan
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/new-method-accurately-detects-prions-blood
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F.
New method accurately detects prions in blood
A sensitive blood test accurately detected variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, an incurable and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. The method could be used to diagnose prion diseases and prevent disease transmission.
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LTC Stephen F.
Thank you for responding SN (Join to see) that you have been prohibited from donating blood because you have had sex with men.
Sexual desire for a boy/man to have sex with another boy/man is not sufficient for donating blood, after all
Per the Red Cross
"Donor Deferral for Men Who Have Had Sex With Men (MSM)
On December 21, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued final guidance for deferral criteria for men who have had sex with men (MSM). AABB, America's Blood Centers and the Red Cross support the FDA's decision to change the MSM blood donation policy from a lifetime deferral to a one-year deferral and additionally for the purposes of blood donation gender is self-identified and self-reported, which is relevant to the transgender community. This policy change aligns the MSM donor deferral period with those for other activities that may pose a similar risk of transfusion-transmissable infections.
First-time male donors may now be eligible to donate blood if they have not had sex with another man in more than 12 months. All additional blood donation eligibility criteria will apply.
Donors who were previously deferred under the prior MSM policy will be evaluated for reinstatement. It is important to understand that the donor reinstatement process involves potentially thousands of donors, and it will take time.
Individuals who have been deferred for MSM in the past may initiate donor reinstatement beginning January 2017 by contacting the Red Cross Donor and Client Support Center at [login to see] . Individuals with questions about their donation eligibility can contact the Red Cross Donor and Client Support Center at [login to see] . We appreciate the patience of our valued donors as we continue to diligently work to implement these changes so that more people can give blood for those in need."
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F.
Sexual desire for a boy/man to have sex with another boy/man is not sufficient for donating blood, after all
Per the Red Cross
"Donor Deferral for Men Who Have Had Sex With Men (MSM)
On December 21, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued final guidance for deferral criteria for men who have had sex with men (MSM). AABB, America's Blood Centers and the Red Cross support the FDA's decision to change the MSM blood donation policy from a lifetime deferral to a one-year deferral and additionally for the purposes of blood donation gender is self-identified and self-reported, which is relevant to the transgender community. This policy change aligns the MSM donor deferral period with those for other activities that may pose a similar risk of transfusion-transmissable infections.
First-time male donors may now be eligible to donate blood if they have not had sex with another man in more than 12 months. All additional blood donation eligibility criteria will apply.
Donors who were previously deferred under the prior MSM policy will be evaluated for reinstatement. It is important to understand that the donor reinstatement process involves potentially thousands of donors, and it will take time.
Individuals who have been deferred for MSM in the past may initiate donor reinstatement beginning January 2017 by contacting the Red Cross Donor and Client Support Center at [login to see] . Individuals with questions about their donation eligibility can contact the Red Cross Donor and Client Support Center at [login to see] . We appreciate the patience of our valued donors as we continue to diligently work to implement these changes so that more people can give blood for those in need."
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F.
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It's sad to know that you and many others like myself are restricted because of mad cow disease and we can't do anything about it.
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LTC Stephen F.
Thank you for responding, my friend SGT Charles H. Hawes. Yes it is sad because there is no test for the living for the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD) of "Mad Cow Disease." As of now the only test is via autopsy and we are not crazy or "mad" enough to volunteer for an autopsy :-)
Hopefully one day there will be political will to develop a blood test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD) so that if cleared many of us could donate blood once again.
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F. Cpl Scott McCarroll
Hopefully one day there will be political will to develop a blood test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD) so that if cleared many of us could donate blood once again.
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F. Cpl Scott McCarroll
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I'm like you; used to donate every two months. Germany 1972-1981. Had worked to five-gallon status.
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LTC Stephen F.
Thank you for responding, my friend LTC John Griscom I it is sad that simply being stationed in Germany in 1980 and 1981, when the bovine spongiform "mad cow" outbreak was occurring, you can't donate blood. If you left Germany in 1979 you would be able to donate blood.
Hopefully one day there will be political will to develop a blood test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD) so that if cleared many of us could donate blood once again.
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F. Cpl Scott McCarroll
Hopefully one day there will be political will to develop a blood test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD) so that if cleared many of us could donate blood once again.
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F. Cpl Scott McCarroll
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