Sample article from the May 2001 Star Beacon

Zero-Point Fluctuations

Mad cows and macrobiotics

by Fred Pulver

Prions are deformed bits of protein that are implicated in a number of disorders which are progressive, difficult to trace, and ultimately fatal. BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), or Mad Cow Disease, nvCJD (New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease), Scrapie and Wasting Disease are a few already identified.

Of these, Scrapie and Wasting Disease have been considered disorders of mammals, while BSE (until recently considered a disorder of cattle and sheep primarily) and a variant of CJD (a human disorder) are now considered by some scientists to be related, if not caused, by the same agent.

Prions attach themselves to healthy protein DNA strands, where they are replicated along with the healthy protein. They gradually degrade the healthy protein. Over time, this degradation impedes the normal life function accomplished by the proteins in different areas of the body. In the case of BSE and nvCJD, nerve and brain tissue is primarily affected. Brain tissue develops vacant spaces that give it the appearance of a sponge; hence the name spongiform (sponge-like). In the case of wasting disease, a more general destruction of muscle tissue leads to gradual death from disability. Scrapie, a condition known primarily to sheep, makes the skin of sheep itch. To ease the discomfort, they scrape themselves on rocks, fence posts, etc. This is how the disorder got its name.

If prions are simply aberrant protein fragments, they may not be species-specific. That is, it is possible they could infiltrate any mammal who consumes them and attach themselves to the DNA of the animal or human who consumes them.

Some potential problems prions present are as follows:

1. They can survive a temperature of up to 800 degrees F. Incinerating affected animals may simply spread prions into the air, where they could be breathed in by other animals or humans, or fall on grass, where they will be consumed by other animals and make their way into the human food chain in this manner.

2. They are not a virus or bacteria; hence they cannot be overcome by conventional medical means. Hence the primary method now being used to contain the problem has been to eliminate animals that may be affected.

3. Symptoms of damage may not appear for many years. This compounds the problem of identification and eradication, because very species on Earth could conceivably harbor prions but would not exhibit symptoms until it is too late to stop the spread of the disorder.

4. Since they are not an infectious agent, they do not "incubate." Hence there are no ways to detect their presence externally, but only through costly lab analysis of affected tissue. The cost alone is a huge problem in France and other European nations that prevents all animals from being tested.

5. Destruction of prions and removal from surgical instruments used in autopsies or exploratory surgery requires special measures, including special disinfection and quarantine of operating rooms. Hospitals have been reluctant to properly report nvCJD when it is discovered, due to complications such reports entail. In some cases nvCJD has been reported as Alzheimer's, since Alzheimer's does not require the same stringent quarantine measures, etc.

6. Determining which animals are already infected or carriers of BSE or BSE-like agents can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, especially during earlier stages of inoculation. Since the incubation period can be years or even decades, it is possible that the disorder may already be present in far more animals, and even humans, than can be determined by current means. Furthermore, these inoculated animals may continue to spread the disorder for some time before they can be identified.

The U.S. CDC (Center for Disease Control) states on their Web site, www. cdc.gov/travel/madcow.htm (Traveler's Health):

"Since 1996, evidence has been increasing for a causal relationship between ongoing outbreaks in Europe of a disease in cattle called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow disease") and a disease in humans called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (nvCJD). Both disorders are invariably fatal brain diseases with unusually long incubation periods measures in years and are caused by an unconventional transmissible agent. Although there is strong evidence that the agent responsible for these human cases was the same agent responsible for the BSE outbreaks in cattle, the specific foods that might be associated with the transmission of the agent from cattle to humans are unknown. However, bioassays have identified the presence of the BSE agent in the brain, spinal cord, retina, dorsal root ganglia (nervous tissue located near the backbone), distal ileum, and bone marrow of cattle experimentally infected with this agent by the oral route."

Further:

"In addition to cattle, sheep are susceptible to experimental infection with the BSE agent by the oral route."

However, the article emphasizes:

"Currently, cattle remain the only known food animal species with disease caused by the BSE agent."

Public health control measures being implemented and suggested include the following:

"Public health control measures, such as BSE surveillance, the culling of sick animals, or banning specified risk materials (SRMs), or a combination of these, have been instituted in Europe to prevent potentially BSE-infected tissues from entering the human food chain. The most stringent of these control measures have been applied in the United Kingdom and appear to have been highly effective. In June 2000, the European Union Commission on Food Safety and Animal Welfare adopted a decision requiring all member states to remove SRMs from animal feed and human food chains as of Oct. 1, 2000; such bans had already been instituted in most member states. To reduce the possible current risk of acquiring nvCJD from food, travelers to Europe should be advised to consider either 1) avoiding beef and beef productions altogether, or 2) selecting beef or beef products, such as solid pieces of muscle meat (versus beef products such as burgers and sausages) that might have a reduced opportunity for contamination with tissues that might harbor the BSE agent."

"Specified Risk Materials" (SRMs) is a phrase carefully chosen to describe a widespread practice that is now understood to be the probable source of prion-based disorders.

Diseased animals were formerly sold to rendering plants, where they were reduced to a high-protein powder that was then mixed with cattle feed, as well as sheep and chicken feed. The idea was that this would put more weight on the animals so that a higher price could be obtained for them at market.

Unfortunately, this was probably the way the disorder was spread. To reduce the spread of BSE and related disorders, feedlots are now banned from use of cow parts in cattle feed. However, the practice is still allowed in the formulation of chicken feed.

A potential problem associated with this practice is that chickens could become carriers for prions or other BSE agents.

Cattle feed can still be enriched with chicken parts. Therefore, prions may still enter the food chain and end up in humans who never eat meat from cattle, or eat only meat from cattle that have not been fed anything containing cattle or sheep parts. Therefore, this restricted use of animal parts to supplement animal feed may not be enough.

Vegetarian animals were not designed by nature to eat animal flesh and flesh by-products. The practice of adding parts from cows back into cattle feed to enhance the protein content of their diets essentially turned cows into cannibals.

Again, to summarize the enormity of the problem:

1. Eliminating infected animals is an exercise in futility, if chickens are still given feed enriched with cattle parts. If this feed happens to contain BSE agents, then chickens will become carriers of the agent. If parts of these carrier chickens are then included in cattle feed, cattle can then become infected with BSE. Also, cattle that have never been fed anything enriched with cattle parts in their entire lives may still have prions in their bodies, which they inherited from parents affected with the disorder.

2. How can animals known to be infected be properly diagnosed? Burning may spread prions through the atmosphere. Burying infected animals may simply spread the agents through the soil, where they can be carried in water supplies consumed by both animals and humans.

3. How can affected animals be distinguished from those that have not been affected, if means to positively identify affected animals have not yet been perfected?

The Washington, D.C.-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine states that the solution to preventing people from contracting animal diseases is to forgo eating animals.

The group's nutritionist, Amy Lanou, says, "The safest bet is to avoid these foods altogether. Get our nutrients from plant-based sources." According to Macrobiotics, violating, or tampering with, the Order of the Universe is the cause of all human problems. Traditionally, most native cultures included taboos against certain practices. Taboos are often considered superstitions by people raised to think in modern scientific terms. to native peoples, taboos were common sense, based on a profound understanding of the Order of the Universe.

A Macrobiotic Perspective

Macrobiotics does not consider eating meat for people living in temperate and warmer climates to be a sensible practice, for several reasons. But the general reason is because it violates the Order of the Universe. That is, humans were not designed to be meat-eaters in the first place. They do not possess characteristics of carnivorous species, such as fangs, short intestinal tract, claws or cutting molars.

The physical reality behind such violations of natural order are now becoming more obvious in light of the current crisis. People who practice Macrobiotics are less likely to become infected with prions, because they do not depend on meat as a primary food.

As prions migrate to other species, people who can survive on a purely vegetarian diet are less likely to contract the disorder or related disorders that are born from ingesting mutated animal protein fragments.

Macrobiotics offers a way to achieve a balanced vegetarian diet. According to Macrobiotics, other methods do not offer a dynamic method of maintaining balance. The dynamic method at the heart of Macrobiotics is a profound understanding of Yin and Yang as it applies food selection and preparation.(Editor's Note: In a future issue of The Star Beacon, you can read Fred's article of the Classification of Yin and Yang.)

An axiom of Macrobiotics is, "Those who follow the Order of the Universe will survive. Those who do not will suffer, sooner or later, from illness, accident or untimely death from known or unknown causes." True faith (as opposed to blind faith) is born from recognition of the Order of the Universe. It assures us that those who live in harmony with its laws will not succumb to disorders. Disorders are a symptom of being out of harmony with the natural order. Modern science thinks we must discover how to get rid of the disorders. Macrobiotics says we should take disorders as a signal from the benevolent Universal Order that we are "Out of Order."

If we do not heed the warning signs, we will sooner or later become definitely "Out of Order" -- that is, we will no longer be able to function as a human being. Our human form will dissolve and provide other living forms with materials they need to survive.

Whether we want to continue in human form, or in some other form, is totally up to each person to decide. Macrobiotics provides the tools for surviving the biological holocaust that is upon us. It is up to each person to implement these tools before it is too late.

Fred Pulver is a teacher of Macrobiotics and resides in Carbondale, Colorado. You may contact him at fred_pulver@netzero.net.

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