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
Edited 6 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 249
I grew up in Italy and so I have always been told I cannot donate. I feel your pain though. I would love to contribute and I don't think I have madcow. I can't believe hiv positive people will be allowed to donate . Scary
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LTC Stephen F.
I concur CPT (Join to see). I hope that if enough us realize that we can't donate blood because there are no blood tests which confirm that we have or do not have Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD) antibodies or the disease, that Congress will take appropriate action and assign a high enough priority with appropriate funding levels to develop the needed blood tests.
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LTC Stephen F.
I am sorry to learn that you too SGT Shawn Antonious are also not allowed to donate your blood. I hope that if enough us realize that we can't donate blood because there are no blood tests which confirm that we have or do not have Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant (vCJD) antibodies or the disease, that Congress will take appropriate action and assign a high enough priority with appropriate funding levels to develop the needed blood tests.
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I got a notice after Desert Storm that I could not give blood again. I asked a few times since and was not allowed to donate. Although I have seen articles on the internet that claim that I should be allowed.
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LTC Stephen F.
Did anybody explain why you couldn't donate blood LTC Peter Hartman? Everything I have indicates that you should be able to after 23 years have passed.
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LTC Peter Hartman
I was only told no when I explain my past. They could just be playing it safe. Everything that I see on the internet indicates that I should be able to donate blood.
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SPC Margaret Higgins
LTC Stephen F., I have a 100% service-connected disability: mental illness, stress disorder. And I have PTSD. I take psychotropic medications.
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I was stationed in England in the 90s. I can't give blood due to Madd Coww. Yes I spelled that like that on purpose
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I was stationed in Germany in the early 90's and can't donate if I were to get Mad cow I would have by now.
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LTC Stephen F.
TSgt Thomas Monaghan, I would have hoped that by now since it has been 20 or so years for you and 30 for me since we were stationed in Germany and have not developed clears signs of Mad Cow that we would be able to donate blood - unfortunately we can't.
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SSG(P) D. Wright Downs, did the Red Cross tell you could not donate blood because of the risk of Mad Cow or some other organization?
You mentioned "Then I was talking to another veteran of the same era and he was told Chernobyl . I did some research and he had a point---the radiation did contaminate our area and I saw documentaries on PBS about it. So, some who say Chernobyl are Mad Cow people, too."
You mentioned "Then I was talking to another veteran of the same era and he was told Chernobyl . I did some research and he had a point---the radiation did contaminate our area and I saw documentaries on PBS about it. So, some who say Chernobyl are Mad Cow people, too."
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SSG(P) D. Wright Downs
The Red Cross. Matt was given the excuse/reason of radiation from Chernobyl as being the reason he and his family were not able to donate blood. I do not know if it was the Army or the red Cross who told him. He was at a unit I had been assigned to on my previous tour to Germany. I told him it was mad cow. However, we could have had exposure to radiation, too, in addition to the Mad cow.
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Sgt Christopher Collins
I was there in Southern Germany and dealing with a host of medical problems including Hypothyroidism due to Chernonbyl although the VA sees otherwise... agh!
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
LTC Stephen F. I'd Forgotten about that the Mad Cow Disease Outbreak in Britain was at exactly the Same Time as Chernobyl. Hell if Exposure to Radiation is a No Go I'm Definitely a No Go. LOL Born not far from the Dump for the Manhattan Project, Sprayed with Zinc Cadmium Sulfide as part of Army Experiment as a Toddler, Downwind of Chernobyl and serving on 2 Nuclear Cruisers, I'm amazed My Piss doesn't Glow in the Dark.
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Both my wife and I are not able to give blood. I was first stationed in Germany from 1980-1983.
Don't you wonder what will happen to the recipients of our blood donated in the time period after our return to CONUS, but before the ban?
There are still wistful days when I miss that opportunity for free juice and cookies.
There was also an interesting study published in April describing the 4th confirmed case of vJCD in the United States - a case of a Texas man who was born in Kuwait but lived in the United States for over 14 years before demonstrating symptoms of vJCD.
(Available at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/21/5/pdfs/14-2017.pdf).
I still chuckle at a memory of the mid-1990's when I and a colleague stopped in an English pub and asked for a pint and a beef shepherd's pot pie. The barman delivered the pint and advised "you don't really want that pot pie. Mad Cow, you know."
Don't you wonder what will happen to the recipients of our blood donated in the time period after our return to CONUS, but before the ban?
There are still wistful days when I miss that opportunity for free juice and cookies.
There was also an interesting study published in April describing the 4th confirmed case of vJCD in the United States - a case of a Texas man who was born in Kuwait but lived in the United States for over 14 years before demonstrating symptoms of vJCD.
(Available at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/21/5/pdfs/14-2017.pdf).
I still chuckle at a memory of the mid-1990's when I and a colleague stopped in an English pub and asked for a pint and a beef shepherd's pot pie. The barman delivered the pint and advised "you don't really want that pot pie. Mad Cow, you know."
Why The U.S. Still Bans Blood Donations From Some U.K. Travelers
Rules governing who can donate blood in the United States have recently changed. But anyone who spent more than three months in the UK between 1980 and 1996 is still prohibited from donating.
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LTC Stephen F.
Thank you for such a great response COL Korey Jackson. It would be interesting to learn how many people were infected with vJCD from blood donations traced by to military and family members stationed in western Europe in the 1980's.
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Was a temporary precautionary measure to ensure that I wasn't infected during deployment.
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