Celtic_Angel

you can't give blood in the U.S either! it's like we're the lepers of the developed World!
Question: if the reason for not accepting blood donors is contamination, if we do have the mad cow disease DNA in us( dormant ) do we pass it on to our children????

JAJ

No evidence to that effect but you never know, they'll probably be banned from giving blood too, because "we can't be certain can we?"

Jeremy

Celtic_Angel

yeah that's when i discovered i couldn't donate blood, all set to go at a mobile blood bank and this comes up.....it's only my entire childhood!!!!!

Another question...if i get severly sick from mad cow disease and as a consequence i ring up a huge medical bill etc before the cause is detected can i sue the British government????....i don't see why my family would have to foot the bill!

i know , i know i shouldn't worry about this stuff but well i do.......
mad cow

Celtic_Angel

Jeremy!! haven't seen you about since the immigration threads!! must admit i now hang out with the rowdy lot in the Lounge ......so this is where you usually hang out then

JAJ

If in the UK, the NHS will foot the bill.


Isn't it amazing how people worry about the things that are *least* likely to happen to them?

You're thousands of times more likely to get many other awful conditions than this disease, and the most likely outcome for you (by far) is that you will stay completely healthy for a long time.

As I pointed out earlier in this thread, we all have to decide on whether we want to live by fear or not.

Jeremy

andrew63

Hmmm!
Been a few years since I was actively working in the labs but I have to agree with Jeremy.
There is a "rule" known as Koch's Postulates:
Koch's postulates (1890):

• the causative agent must be present in every case of the disease and must not be present in healthy animals.

• the pathogen must be isolated from the diseased host animal and must be grown in pure culture.

• the same disease must be produced when microbes from the pure culture are inoculated into healthy susceptible animals.

• the same pathogen must be recoverable once again from this artificially infected animal and it must be able to be grown in pure culture.

Despite such limitations, Koch's postulates are still a useful benchmark in judging whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship between a bacteria (or any other type of microorganism) and a clinical disease.

To date, this has not yet been proven for vCJD and that BSE is transmitted via the suggested route of cow brain!

To PROVE that BSE can be transmitted to humans and become vCJD would be quite easy - but unethical, maybe. Simply get a cow or two with BSE (easy enough), remove their brains and feed to prisoners on death row (for instance). If they develop vCJD before they are zapped, the disease process would be proven and Kochs Postulates satisfied. Do you REALLY think they haven't tried something like that??

Also, FYI, with regards to giving blood, if it is not used within 3 months, it is discarded. Not thrown away, but turned into products for commercial sale making some people very wealthy out of your good intentions.

Andrew

mary1

The scary difference with vCJD is that it is not not caused by a microorganism.It is caused by a protein thread called a prion.

You can't even KILL them like viruses and bacteria because they aren't ALIVE.

You don't have to be a brain surgeon to understand vCJD is a different ball game altogether.

It would be nice if everyone who needed an transplant didn't have to wait.

It's hard for them especially round Easter and Xmas and Holiday Weekends(when the road toll is higher) hoping it's going to be their turn.

JAJ

Diseases of this type have been known for quite a while, and vCJD is not the only one. EG the following link (note - not for the squeamish):
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionar...uru%20epidemic

The other point worth noting is that the relevant period (1980-96) is now 8-24 years in the past. One would suspect many more cases would have come to the fore by now if this condition was a real one to be concerned about.

All understood and sympathetic - but you're defending a state of affairs where a healthy organ will be rejected simply because the prospective donor had lived in the UK at some stage.

Please correct me if I've misinterpreted you.

Jeremy

Celtic_Angel

that's what scares me until recently i was smugly confident that there was no way i could have contracted mad cow disease cos well...my mum cooked the heck out of everything...especially meat.....I even remember watching a documentary about how you could most likely contract the disease though eating undercooked steaks etc.................hmmm well my bubble sure burst , like i said ,recently i read an article that said thorough cooking of the meat made no difference whatsoever cos it was a protein, AND that a steak was safer cos it only came from one cow while minced beef came from several so your chances of contamination were far greater!!!!


thanks a lot buddy !! i grew up on Cottage Pie and Spaghetti Bolognese!!!!! :scared:

mary1

I'm not arguing with you.I don't even know if they don't transplant organs here from people who have lived in the UK.I still have the "Y" ticked on my licence.

I spent most of the 80's eating hamburgers in the UK.I've never worried for a moment about "getting mad cow disease".

If the scientific/medical experts want to be cautious about vCJD even if it is a theoretical risk it's fine by me.Let them decide which organs are healthy.I'm sure the AMA hasn't got xenophobic reasons for it.

I've looked after many patients dying with AIDS who had been transfused HIV infected blood products.Tragic.

Wouldn't like the same scenario to happen again.What would happen if they find the "incubation"period is 30 years?

Pollyana

Now this is pure speculation, and I'm sure there are many reasons why it wouldn't work, but I'm just thinking aloud.......most transplant recipients are able to make lucid decisions, and if I was in need of a transplant I would be willing to take the risk of contracting vCJD....so why can't the recipients have a choice? Make them aware of the risk, and let them take responsibility for their lives, instead of letting "nanny state" do it for them?

nell m

Just a thought, but can you not still donate organs to the UK from Aus/NZ? I know there is a time factor, but isn't it something like 72 hours? There's a chance some would still get back in time. I guess if you update your details on the register they'd be able to find you.

I don't know, but maybe it's a possibility.

jodesmc

General Organ Donor Criteria
1. Medical History

The donor's medical history must be known and recorded in the hospital records. Specific attention must be paid to:


Past medical history and past social history, including smoking and alcohol intake.

History of risk factors within the past 12 months for the transmission of HIV

intravenous drug abuse, tattoos and body piercing

Active homosexuality/bisexuality or heterosexual contact with a high risk partner.

note should be taken of the national guidelines for blood transfusion


Disease in any donated organ

History of risk factors for the transmission of Creutzfeld-Jacob disease

family history of early dementias

use of pituitary hormone extract

notification of treatment with pituitary hormone extract

Any other medical factor that may influence a recipient's decision to accept the donation

History of intracranial malignancy




These are the Australian and NZ recommendations for organ donation, and although they take into account the fact that the person may have been in contact with someone with CJD, and therefore the organs won't be taken, they don't state anywhere that organs won't be harvested if the person was in the UK during the time period that is relevant.

bondipom

I donated here in 97 before the rules were changed. The authorities maybe very cautious but over 100,000 cows have died of the bovine variant. All the unknown factors meant that there was a theoretical serious threat to human health. Thankfully the incidence of VCJD is low and will hopefully stay low.

Hopefully the authorities that be will reassess the risks however I think they are scared of media hype. You can see the headlines "Mad Pom Disease coming down under".