Earlier this year, a team of scientists garnered a wave of media attention with their provocative report: They claimed to have found two cases of a rare but fatal prion disease in hunters that could have plausibly been caused by them eating contaminated deer meat—a frightening reminder of the mad cow crisis over 30…
A new study might point to the first signs of a frightening public health scenario: Researchers found two recent cases of prion disease—universally fatal ailments caused by rogue proteins—that could have been caused by the victims eating contaminated deer meat. This connection is still far from confirmed, but doctors…
A new study this week points to a potential transmission risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers found evidence in mice that an inherited form of the neurological disorder can be passed on via bone marrow donation. While such a danger has yet to be confirmed in humans and likely to be infrequent if it can happen, the…
One of the most existentially frightening illnesses ever to be discovered was mad cow disease, a fatal prion-spread illness that appeared in animals in the 1980s and killed over 200 people during the height of the outbreak in the late 1990s. You don’t hear much about mad cow today, but the threat still looms. Here’s…
A medical treatment given to children in the UK may have led to some developing Alzheimer’s disease decades later, new research out Monday suggests. The study presents evidence that at least five people contracted the neurodegenerative disorder from having received human growth hormones contaminated with rogue amyloid…
An existing medication for multiple sclerosis could possibly be retooled into a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, new research suggests. A team of scientists has found evidence in mice and human brain tissue that the drug ponesimod can reduce the inflammation and toxic amyloid plaques found in those with Alzheimer’s.…
A case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy—more colorfully known as mad cow disease—has been detected on a farm in the Netherlands. It’s the first time that an infected cow has been reported in the country in over a decade. Authorities say the cow should not pose a threat to human health, but they’re looking for other…
