Scrapie. Notifiable disease. Fatal disease in the nervous system of cattle, unknown before 1985. Microscopic holes appear in the brain giving a spongiform appearance, but with little inflammation. Can spread from one animal to another: sheep, goats, deer, mules, mink, hamsters, mice, pigs and monkeys. Cause: not a virus. Animals itch and scrape themselves against trees or posts for relief. May spread from animals to humans, with brain infection after the character of polio.
Symptoms. (Human). Speech impairment, short-term-memory-loss, difficulty in controlling body movements. Zinc deficiency.
Treatment. Hospitalisation.
Suggested treatment for human infection, unproven.
Tinctures. Echinacea 5; Black Cohosh 3; Yarrow 2; Senna leaf 1.2-3 teaspoons in water (or cup hot Yarrow tea) 3-4 times daily. For headache: Gelsemium.
Supplement: Zinc.
To be treated by a general medical practitioner or hospital specialist. ... bovine spongiform encephalopathy
TIAs may be caused by a blood clot (see embolism) temporarily blocking an artery that supplies the brain, or by narrowing of an artery as a result of atherosclerosis.
After a TIA, tests such as CT scanning, blood tests, ultrasound scanning, or angiography may be needed to determine a cause. In some cases, the heart is studied as a possible source of blood clots. Treatment is aimed at preventing stroke, which occurs within 5 years in up to one third of patients with TIA. Treatments include endarterectomy, anticoagulant drugs, or aspirin.... transient ischaemic attack
Since the BSE epidemic in cattle developed in the UK in the 1980s, however, a new variant of CJD has been identi?ed and is believed to be the result of consumption of the meat of BSE-infected cattle. Studies in transgenic mice have con?rmed that BSE caused variant CJD. The new variant has affected younger people and may have a shorter incubation period. If this incubation period turns out to be the same as for the other types of CJD, however, it could be 2005– 2010 before the peak of this outbreak is reached. Over 148 people had died, or were dying, from variant CJD in the UK by the year 2005.
The appearance of BSE in cattle is believed to have been caused by a gene mutation (see GENETIC DISORDERS), although whether this mutation ?rst occurred in cattle or in some other animal remains uncertain. Although the ?rst case of BSE was o?cially reported in 1985, the ?rst cattle are thought to have been infected in the 1970s. BSE spread to epidemic proportions because cattle were fed meat and bone meal, made from the o?al of cattle suffering from or incubating the disease. Mother-to-calf transfer is another likely route of transmission, although meat and bone meal in cattle feed were the main cause of the epidemic. The epidemic reached its peak in 1992 when the incidence of newly diagnosed cases in cattle was 37,545.
A two-year UK government inquiry into the BSE epidemic concluded that BSE had caused a ‘harrowing fatal disease in humans’, and criticised o?cials for misleading the public over the risk to humans from BSE. Consequently, a compensation package for patients and relatives was made available. Meanwhile, a ban on the export of UK beef and restrictions on the type of meat and products made from beef that can be sold to the public were put in place. Although initially thought to be a problem primarily con?ned to the UK, several other countries – notably France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the United States – have also discovered BSE in their cattle.... encephalopathy (bse)
About 80 per cent of patients survive an acute stroke and they are at risk of a further episode within a few weeks and months; about 10 per cent in the ?rst year and 5 per cent a year after that. HYPERTENSION, smoking, HYPERLIPIDAEMIA and raised concentration of blood sugar, along with OBESITY, are signi?cant pointers to further strokes and preventive steps to reduce these factors are worthwhile, although the reduction in risk is hard to assess. Even so, the affected person should stop smoking, greatly reduce alcohol intake, check for and have treated diabetes, reduce weight and exercise regularly. In any case, a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables and low in fat and salt, exercise and the avoidance of smoking may reduce the risk of having a ?rst stroke.
The evidence is inconclusive that patients with ischaemic stroke should be treated with antihypertensives. Furthermore, neither the starting blood pressure nor the best drug regimen or its starting time are generally agreed. Studies on the most e?ective methods of preventing and treating stroke are continuing; meanwhile available evidence suggests that an active approach to prevention of primary and secondary hypertension will bene?t patients and usually be cost-e?ective.... ischaemic stroke
– see APPENDIX 5: VITAMINS) which affects the brain and nervous system. It occurs in alcoholic individuals and in patients with persistent vomiting. As soon as the condition is diagnosed, it must be treated with large doses of thiamine. Unless the patient has developed symptoms of psychosis, the condition is usually reversible with treatment.... wernicke’s encephalopathy
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