Archive for September 17th, 2008
2 items.
U.S. researchers reported that mad cow disease, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is identical to human disease called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). This new report may shed some light on the origin of the disease–supporting the idea that BSE originated from a previously undetected strain from contaminated cattle feed in the UK.
“The study [supports] the hypothesis that all three forms of TSEs in humans are also found in cattle: infectious, sporadic, and genetic. It provides additional support that the BSE epidemic may have originated from a genetic case of BSE in an individual cow. Of course, similar mutations can pop up in cattle herds throughout the world and might provide the raw genetic material for new epidemics to develop in the future, especially in countries where it is a common practice to feed slaughterhouse scraps to healthy animals that will enter the human food chain in the future.”
- GrrlScientist, ScienceBlogs.com
Source: ScienceBlogs.com
Comment
Apparently, the US is not the only country that has a problem with our children’s physical activity levels. In the UK, many parents overestimated their child’s activity levels by almost 6 times the actual results obtained from a recording device attached to their child’s belt.
What is their solution??? (*cough* Wii *cough*) That’s right!! Any active gaming that requires physical activity could be the answer (this does not include only clicking your mouse or pushing buttons)!
CHILDREN who play physically challenging video games use enough energy to stop them from becoming overweight, and boost their heart health, according to a new study.
Children burn roughly four times as many calories per minute playing physically active video games, such as those seen on Nintendo’s interactive Wii console, than playing a seated game.
Dr Russell R Pate of the University of South Carolina, said of the findings: “If we want to promote physical activity in the context of contemporary society, we will have to fight fire with fire. Physically active video gaming may be part of the antidote.”