Gary Chandler is the CEO of Crossbow Communications. He has influenced public opinion and public policy on public health and environmental issues around the world for more than 30 years. He has authored several books for New York publishers. Chandler has been studying the global surge in neurodegenerative disease among mammals for more than 25 years.

On April 20, 2026, Chandler made this presentation to the Aging Congress, Aging and Gerontology 2026, a conference hosted in Dubai, UAE and attended by stakeholders from around the world. The following is that presentation in written and video form.

The Purpose Of The Presentation: Of the major diseases, neurodegenerative disease is the fastest-growing cause of death in the world. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) is the medical term for several forms of neurodegenerative disease, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. TSE also is the medical term for mad cow disease in livestock and chronic wasting disease in wildlife. The only difference between the various forms of TSE is the region of the brain under attack or the species of the victim.

TSE also is known as prion (PREE-on) disease. The multitude of names adds to the confusion surrounding TSE, which makes it more challenging for epidemiologists to spot the propensity of the problem. Plus, TSEs are not reportable diseases in most countries.

More than 50 million people worldwide are living with neurodegenerative diseases, with the number rising dramatically. The most common conditions are Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Millions of people will go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

Hypothesis: As the medical term implies, the various forms of TSE are transmissible. People and animals afflicted with TSE produce great volumes of infectious waste, which contaminates the world around them. Infectious waste is fueling the spread of TSE in homes, healthcare facilities and communities around the world in people of all ages.

Prion Science: Dr. Stanley Prusiner, the Director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of California, San Francisco , earned the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1997 for research on an infectious protein that he called a prion – the neurotoxin associated with TSE. As such, TSE also is known as prion disease.

Prusiner confirmed that TSEs, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, are forms of prion disease. He confirmed that amyloid beta and tau are infectious prions.

Unfortunately, some critical aspects of Prusiner’s research are being ignored. As such, deadly proteins are migrating, mutating and multiplying throughout communities and watersheds around the world.

Prion infectivity is more than a hypothesis. It is award-winning science. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy is a transmissible disease, as its name implies. Caregivers and family are at risk when exposed to people with TSE. Victims are infectious long before they are symptomatic.

There are several factors that can contribute to the cause of TSE. Exposure to prion contamination is definitely an X factor. Prion contamination is almost impossible to sterilize – even in the confines of hospitals and healthcare facilities. As such, prions migrate, mutate and multiply as they move from host to host.

Pathway Management: Prion pathways include every part of the human body.Blood, skin, urine, feces, mucus, organs and tissue. Those infected contaminate everything that they touch. Coughing and sneezing spreads prions. As mentioned earlier, prion contamination can’t be washed off. Autoclaves are ineffective. Thanks to the illegal dumping of infectious waste on land, we are now dealing with wide-scale contamination of land and entire watersheds. Species barriers to TSE are a myth.

Evidence: Hospitals have been sued successfully for negligence (exposed patients to contaminated medical equipment). Growth hormones have been harvested from people with TSE and administered to patients seeking to boost childhood growth. Since there hasn’t been any screening for prion disease, blood and organs from TSE victims have been donated to unsuspecting patients. Many hospitals now discard expensive medical equipment after a single use on patients with prion disease. Morticians follow strict infection-control measures when handling the body of someone who died from prion disease. These precautions include wearing personal protective equipment, placing the body in a leak-proof bag, and attempting to disinfect all surfaces and equipment. Unfortunately, they are handling many bodies which were never diagnosed.

There is not any credible evidence that Alzheimer’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Parkinson’s disease and other forms of TSE are not transmissible.

Meanwhile, several studies have found an increased risk of dementia among older adults whose spouses have dementia. Neurodegenerative disease has more to do with an unstoppable neurotoxin than age. Teenagers are now dying of neurodegenerative disease.

Conclusion: Prevention. Treatment. Containment. If we hope to prevent neurodegenerative disease, we must treat TSE as an infectious disease in all cases. Families and caregivers must be advised. If we hope to contain prion contamination, we must defend all pathways from severely infected waste – lethal waste. It is impossible to manage all prion pathways, but the truth will go a very long way. we need a coordinated and cohesive approach to pathway management around the world. From source to sewage.

Thanks to sewage mismanagement, entire watersheds have been contaminated – putting food and water supplies at risk. We are dumping millions of tons of infectious waste in all of the wrong places around the world every year. In the United States, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency admits that its risk assessment on such dumping practices is incomplete. Unfortunately, the dumping and contamination continue. Extreme weather is spreading this infectious waste far and wide. Food and water supplies are exposed to prion contamination in most, if not all, countries.

Given the aggressive dynamics of infectious prion disease, we must act out of an abundance of caution regarding prion containment. Best practices are evolving, but we must optimize pathway management in homes, healthcare facilities, blood donation centers, dental offices, and throughout our communities. Since there is not a cure for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, prevention is paramount. It will take a comprehensive and collective effort among stakeholders around the world to develop and continually refine best practices in pathway management. The challenge is immediate.

This post supports my presentation at the 11th Edition: Global Congress on Aging & Gerontology (Aging & Gerontology 2026).

For more information, please contact Gary Chandler Gary@CrossbowCommunications.com

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At the moment, there are no cures for most forms of neurodegenerative disease. Until a cure is found, we must focus on prevention and treatment.

A new wave of antibody treatment could revolutionize the management of neurodegenerative disease. Several studies have shown that focused ultrasound can safely open the blood–brain barrier in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. In doing so, sound waves can remove toxic proteins from the brain. The procedure should have similar effectiveness on Parkinson’s disease and other forms of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE).

What Is Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy

TSE is a wasting disease that consumes the brain. It is commonly under-diagnosed and misdiagnosed. It is grossly mismanaged, if not deliberately mismanaged. 

A variety of factors can cause TSE, including diet, lifestyle, genetics and infection. Infectious waste threatens our food, water and health care facilities, which is now the X factor in this global pandemic.

As the name implies, TSEs are highly infectious and fatal. TSEs include ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease. The operative word is transmissible. Victims generate a tremendous amount of infectious waste, which is rarely discussed and challenging to regulate. For example, wastewater treatment plants have become incubators and distributors of infectious waste.

TSE also is known as prion (PREE-on) disease. Prion contamination is now the X factor in a global pandemic that has quietly killed millions of people around the world over the past century. It is now the fastest-growing cause of death in the world.

The major difference between these forms of TSE is the species under attack. The other major difference is the region of the brain that is under attack by deadly proteins known as prions. Humans have spread prions into the environment through sewage sludge and reclaimed wastewater used for drinking and irrigation. Humans have spread prion disease to wildlife and livestock and they have spread the disease back to humans. Answers begin with the truth.

What Is A Prion

We know about prions thanks to Dr. Stanley Prusiner, an American neuroscientist from the University of California at San Francisco. Prusiner earned a Nobel Prize in 1997 for discovering and characterizing prions and prion disease. President Obama awarded Prusiner the National Medal of Science in 2010 to recognize the importance of his research. Unfortunately, much of Prusiner’s science is being ignored. 

Thanks to Prusiner, we know that prions migrate, mutate and multiply, which makes them virtually impossible to keep out of the world we live in. They kill with unparalleled efficiency.

These deadly proteins are referred to as beta-amyloid and tau. These neurotoxins multiply within the body which accelerates the progression of the disease and the spread of the disease to others.

Prion disease is another word for TSE. Prion disease is fatal. It is infectious. It is killing millions of people every year. The pandemic has spread to wildlife and livestock. The pandemic has spread back to people from wildlife and livestock.

Can Ultrasound Treat Neurodegenerative Disease

There are no cures. Pharmaceuticals have been largely ineffective, but the new wave of antibodies offers hope. When used in conjunction with ultrasound therapy, these antibodies may have an even greater impact. 

Researchers have discovered that carefully targeted ultrasound can gently open the blood–brain barrier, allowing the brain to purge these plaques. ​​Patients receiving this experimental therapy have shown improvements with memory.

Neither the manufacturer of the ultrasound device (Insightec) nor the manufacturer of aducanumab (Biogen) sponsored the research or participated in the trial design; collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data; or the writing of the manuscript.

A challenge of therapeutics in Alzheimer’s disease has been restriction by the blood–brain barrier of the delivery of therapeutic agents to brain tissue. Low-intensity focused ultrasound guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been shown to reversibly open the blood–brain barrier in patients with Alzheimer’s disease or other neurologic disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, brain tumors, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 

Previous studies that applied focused ultrasound to regions of the brain without the use of a therapeutic agent in patients with Alzheimer’s disease have resulted in modest reductions in the levels of amyloid-beta (Aβ) in those regions. Anti-Aβ antibodies have shown promise in reducing levels of Aβ and slowing disease progression. In experimental models, the use of focused ultrasound to open the blood–brain barrier resulted in a level of aducanumab delivery to targeted brain regions that was five to eight times as high as that in the untreated regions of the brain.

The sound waves activate the brain’s natural cleaning systems, helping remove the harmful buildup that affects thinking, learning, and memory.

Although the therapy is still in clinical trials, early results are promising. It probably won’t be a cure, but it promises to be a helpful therapy that can improve function, while delaying disease progression.

Other Health Applications Of Sound and Frequency

Sound, frequency, and vibration can improve physical and mental health by influencing brainwave activity, reducing stress hormones, and promoting relaxation. Often called sound healing or vibrational therapy, they are activated and transmitted through methods such as binaural beats, singing bowls, and music.

Helpful Sound Frequencies

• 432 Hz: Associated with reducing anxiety, lowering heart rate, and promoting a sense of harmony.
• 528 Hz: Known as the “love frequency” or “miracle note,” it is studied for reducing cortisol, increasing oxytocin, and potentially repairing DNA.
• 40 Hz: Linked to improvements in memory, cognitive function, and focus.
• Binaural Beats (by range):
  • Delta (1-4 Hz): Deep sleep and relaxation.
  • Theta (4-8 Hz): REM sleep, meditation, and creativity.
  • Alpha (8-13 Hz): Relaxation, positivity, and anxiety reduction.
  • Beta (14-30 Hz): Alertness, concentration, and problem-solving. 

How Sound Frequency Healing Works

• Parasympathetic Activation: Low-frequency sounds (e.g., deep hums) activate the parasympathetic nervous system, easing tension and slowing heart rate.
• Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Vocal exercises and specific tones can stimulate the vagus nerve, improving mood, digestion, and immune response.
• Brainwave Entrainment: Sound therapy uses consistent, rhythmic sounds to encourage the brain to enter specific states (e.g., deep sleep or high focus).
• Cellular Impact: Specific frequencies are thought to reduce stress on cells and potentially assist with repair. 

There are proven strategies to help avert neurodegenerative disease, including nutrition, exercise and prion aversion. There is not a cure for prion disease. Preview and order the eBook now to defend yourself and your family.

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Autism rates around the world continue to surge. In the United States, 1 child out of every 31 will develop autism – a neurodevelopmental disorder that has a wide range of symptoms and severity.

Approximately 2.21 percent of Americans aged 18 to 84 are living with autism, according to a 2020 study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Virginia have the highest estimated rates of adults living with autism, according to the data.

Instead of announcing a national screening program to help understand the dynamics of the disorder, the White House made a desperate attempt last month to blame the skyrocketing neurological disorder on acetaminophen – the active ingredient in Tylenol.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy, Jr., claims that if a pregnant mother took Tylenol during pregnancy to reduce a fever, she might have caused autism in her child. It is a claim that has been investigated and dismissed. It might be a contributing factor, but it certainly doesn’t explain the root cause of autism.

The pushback from doctors, families and advocates was immediate and strong. Rightly so. Autism was first observed in 1911. Tylenol was introduced in the United States in 1955. Numerous studies have failed to prove a connection.

It also doesn’t explain why autism affects four-times more boys than girls. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among boys in California in 2022 was 1 in 22. The prevalence for girls is 1 in 100. The prevalence was highest among Asian/Pacific Islander boys (1 in 15) and Hispanic/Latino boys (1 in 18).

“The autism epidemic has now reached a scale unprecedented in human history because it affects the young,” Kennedy said. “Autism is preventable and it is unforgivable that we have not yet identified the underlying causes. We should have had these answers 20 years ago.”

Some pundits will suggest that the disparity is due to genetics, while others blame neurotoxins in our air, food and water. Others are pointing toward neurotoxins that are contaminating healthcare facilities, dental offices and beyond. Robert Kennedy Jr. claims that the rising number of autism diagnoses in the U.S. is being driven by environmental causes rather than genetics. This is the sliver of truth in the midst of a massive smokescreen.

Answers Begin With The Truth

A comprehensive national screening program would help us understand the extent and dispersion of the autism problem. Some nations are doing a better job than others, but barriers exist. In the absence of comprehensive screening and reporting, it makes sense to look at the world of neurotoxins that threaten life as we know it.

Heavy metals, particularly lead and mercury, have long been a subject of research. Lead poisoning is known to impair neurocognitive function, causing behavioral issues and lower IQ in children. A 2022 study found that children with autism were overrepresented in a group with higher blood lead levels.

Another study found that autistic children had higher lead exposure during development compared to their non-autistic twin siblings.

Forever chemicals, also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are a group of man-made chemicals used in various products, including non-stick cookware, textiles, and firefighting foam. Some studies have investigated the potential link between PFAS exposure and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Studies have shown that prenatal exposure to PFAS, particularly perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), may be associated with an increased risk of ASD.

One study found that children whose mothers had higher levels of PFOA in their blood during pregnancy were more likely to exhibit ASD-like behaviors. PFAS may disrupt endocrine function, leading to changes in brain development that could increase the risk of autism. PFAS may also impair immune function, making children more susceptible to infections that could contribute to neurodevelopmental problems. PFAS may interact with other environmental factors, such as BPA (bisphenol A), to increase the risk of autism. Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) showed the strongest and most consistent association with ASD. Prenatal blood concentrations of PFNA may be associated with modest increases in child autism-related traits.

Pesticides have been a concern for years. Research has increasingly focused on the effects of maternal exposure to pesticides on fetal brain development. A 2014 study by UC Davis found that mothers living near agricultural pesticide applications during pregnancy had an elevated risk of having a child with autism or developmental delays. Specific neurotoxic chemicals identified in research include organophosphates (such as chlorpyrifos) and pyrethroids. In one study, mothers living near chlorpyrifos applications during the second trimester were 3.3 times more likely to have a child with autism.

According to Stephanie Seneff, a Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Glyphosate could be the culprit behind Alzheimer’s disease and other neuro disorders.

Air pollution Studies have found associations between air pollution, particularly traffic-related pollutants, and an increased risk of autism in children whose mothers were exposed during pregnancy and infancy. 

Endocrine disruptors, especially phthalates and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which can interfere with the endocrine system, have been implicated in some studies.

Sewage Sludge

As mentioned above, there are several contaminants in our world that contribute to autism and other neurological disorders. All of those contaminants and more are found in sewage sludge. Most people don’t know what happens to our sewage when it enters and leaves wastewater treatment plants. We load our toilets and sinks with all sorts of disgusting things that we don’t ever want to see or think about again.

Hospitals, nursing homes, dental offices, veterinarians, auto repair shops and factories all send their sewage to the local wastewater treatment plant so that it will magically disappear. Unfortunately, this massive waste stream doesn’t disappear. The carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, pesticides, solvents, heavy metals, radionuclides and much more are sent to the wastewater treatment plant. The water is removed and often recycled for irrigation or even drinking (bad idea). The solids and sludge are handled separately. Some of this toxic waste is dumped into lined landfills where it can’t contaminate the soil, air, food and water. 

Unfortunately, the U.S. alone dumped more than 2.44 million metric tons of this toxic waste on farms, ranches, golf courses, parks, ball fields and beyond in 2020. Thanks to the US EPA, many other nations are doing the same thing.

Sewage sludge contains just about every contaminant and neurotoxin imaginable, including heavy metals, PFAS, pesticides and highly infectious prions. Deadly prions are generated by people, livestock and wildlife that have acquired prion disease. The bodily fluids and cell tissue of mammals infected with prion disease (also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathy) are infectious.

Victims of prion disease are walking time bombs that infect everything in their home. The blood, urine, feces, saliva, mucus and more from millions of people who are battling neurodegenerative disease is flushed down toilets every day. Unfortunately, wastewater treatment plants can’t neutralize deadly prions in the wastewater. When the water and the solids are recycled, they are infected with prion contamination. Sewage sludge from these wastewater treatment plants is one of the most toxic and deadly substances on the planet. Is it contributing to a public health disaster, including a surge in neurological disorders? Prove me wrong.

When sewage sludge is dumped on land, these toxins are blown by the wind, swept away into water supplies, and absorbed by plants that humans, livestock and wildlife consume. Dumping sewage sludge (also known as biosolids) is contributing to neurodegenerative disease in humans, livestock and wildlife (Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease and more). Sewage sludge also is spreading deadly forever chemicals into our food and water supplies.

Former EPA scientist David Lewis claims that there is a causal link between the land application of toxic sewage sludge and an increase in autism rates. In 2018, the EPA admitted that the risk assessment that enabled the industrial application of millions of tons of sewage sludge to land was incomplete and “may not fully protect human health and the environment” – it didn’t account for all risks, including the risks of neurotoxins blowing in the wind and seeping into groundwater and surface water runoff. Despite this stunning admission, they didn’t stop the illegal practice.

Sewage sludge dumped on land is clearly a pathway for infectious prions and other neurotoxins. There is no reason to believe that sewage sludge isn’t contributing to the surge in autism. It also is impossible to remove prions from recycled wastewater. The EPA began touting sewage sludge as fertilizer in the 1970s. The spike in neurodegenerative disease and autism began about the same time.  

As mentioned earlier, the medical term for prion disease is transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. Encephalopathy (neurodegeneration or wasting of the brain) can be associated with autism. RFK is aware of the issue and wants to add it to the ASD table.

Neurodegenerative disease is now the fastest-growing cause of death in the world. Most forms of neurodegenerative disease are transmissible. Prions migrate, mutate and multiply. They kill with incredible efficiency. The victims of prion disease are highly infectious. As the population gets sicker, waste streams become even deadlier. Autism could be a by-product of this pandemic. There is no proof to the contrary. Let common sense and the rule of law prevail. Defend the homeland from sewage sludge and neurotoxins.

There are proven strategies to help avert neurodegenerative disease, including nutrition, exercise and prion aversion. There is not a cure for prion disease. Preview and order the eBook now to defend yourself and your family. Autism could be part of this same global surge.

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Bruce Willis has played tough guys in Hollywood productions for more than 40 years. Unfortunately, neurodegenerative disease brought his career to a halt two years ago.

Willis’ condition is worsening as he battles a form of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a progressive brain disorder. He requires a full-time care team and a separate residence next to the family’s home. As his family knows, there is no known treatment or cure for FTD.

At age 70, Mr. Willis is reportedly no longer able to remember his acting career due to the progression of his condition. His wife, Emma Heming Willis, recently published a book to share her lessons with other families and to build a network of education, advocacy and support for all caregivers, “The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path.” The book is a guide to help caregivers take care of themselves.

“Caregivers need all the help that they can get,” she explains. “This isn’t a guide on how to be a caregiver. It’s about how to care for yourself while doing one of the hardest, most heartbreaking jobs in the world. Through my own experience and insights from leading experts, I hope to help other care partners feel less isolated, better prepared, and empowered to navigate this journey with strength and support.”

The day Emma Heming Willis’ husband was diagnosed with FTD, they were given a simple pamphlet and told to check back in a few months.

Emma walked out of that doctor’s appointment with fear and confusion. Emma felt alone and more isolated than ever. How would she care for her husband while parenting their young daughters? Emma wanted someone who’d been through it to explain the road ahead and how to navigate the twists, turns and blindspots. In her search for answers, she ended up writing the book for other families and caregivers.

“With grace, honesty, and unflinching courage, Emma has opened her heart to share the truth of caregiving—its heartbreaks and its hidden gifts,” said Demo Moore. “The Unexpected Journey is a lifeline for anyone navigating the complex world of dementia and it is her gift to every caregiver who has felt lost, overwhelmed, or alone. Through her story, Emma offers not only guidance, but also the kind of empathy that only comes from living it.”

There are several causes for neurodegenerative disease, including genetics, head trauma and exposure to neurotoxins. It’s impossible to say what triggered FTD in Mr. Willis.

Unfortunately, neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and others, is now the fastest-growing cause of death in the world. Misinformation, disinformation and mismanagement are compounding the problem.

“This book is a game changer for caregivers of loved ones with dementia,” said Maria Shriver, an active advocate for greater awareness, education and support for neurodegenerative disease. “This book will help millions of families, like hers, like yours, like mine, like everyone’s. It’s a book for our time.”

To order your copy of The Unexpected Journey, please, visit https://emmahemingwillis.com/the-unexpected-journey/

According to Nobel-Prize-winning physiologist Stanley Prusiner, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Huntington’s disease, and other forms of neurodegenerative disease are all forms of prion disease. There is no reason to believe that FTD is an exception. Hospitals and neurologists are well aware of the threats associated with neurodegenerative disease. Caregivers, medical professionals and others are in harm’s way. The negligence is criminal

The medical term for prion disease is transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, which includes ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease. The operative word is transmissible.

There are proven strategies to help avert neurodegenerative disease, including nutrition, exercise and prion aversion. There is not a cure for prion disease. Preview and order the eBook now to defend yourself and your family.order the eBook now to defend yourself and your family.

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Neurodegenerative disease is the fastest-growing cause of death around the world. Deadly and infectious proteins known as prions have been fueling the global pandemic for years.

To help understand prion disease, a tech giant has stepped to the plate. Google developed a program called DeepMind to help crack the code and the mystery behind prions, especially those that misfold into deadly pathogens. AlphaFold is a significant AI breakthrough that is accelerating research in biology and medicine. 

AlphaFold’s database and tools are freely available, impacting diverse fields from disease treatment to the environmental challenges associated with neurotoxins. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the prion pandemic refers to the growing global crisis of neurodegenerative diseases that are increasingly understood to be caused by prions, a deadly and transmissible form of protein. There is not a known cure for prion disease.

The most common form of prion disease in humans is Alzheimer’s disease. Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Huntington’s disease and ALS also are caused by infectious prions.

In livestock, prion disease is referred to as mad cow disease, while in deer, elk, moose and reindeer prion disease is known as chronic wasting disease. Contrary to popular belief and disinformation, these diseases are closely related. The biggest difference in the human forms of prion disease is the region of the brain that is under attack. There is no meaningful difference between the human forms of prion disease and the animal forms. We need both AI and common sense to see through the lies and mismanagement. Answers begin with the truth.

The bad news is that the prion pandemic refers to the growing global crisis of neurodegenerative diseases that are increasingly understood to be caused by prions, a deadly and transmissible form of protein. This phenomenon is now a public health disaster that is worsening due to misinformation, mismanagement, and reckless public policies. Here are the key aspects of the prion pandemic:

Prion aversion is considered crucial, emphasizing the need to avoid the contagion in diet, water, and the overall environment.

What are Prions? Prions (pree-ons) are a deadly and unstoppable form of protein that migrates, mutates, multiplies, and kills with unparalleled efficiency. Prions are not alive, meaning they cannot be killed, and neutralizing them is virtually impossible. They defy all attempts at sterilization and inactivation.

Prions cause fatal neurodegenerative disease by converting normal cellular prion protein into a toxic, misfolded form that erodes the brain and body. This often leads to a “wasting disease” causing loss of body and brain mass, and the development of sponge-like holes (vacuoles) in the brain.

Prions and Neurodegenerative Diseases

Dr. Stanley Prusiner, an American neuroscientist, discovered and characterized prions, earning a Nobel Prize in 1997 for his work.

In 2012 and again in 2019, Prusiner confirmed that Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and ALS are all forms of prion diseases.

The clinical term for prion disease is Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE), with “transmissible” being the operative word.

TSE is considered a spectrum disease, meaning that conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) are on the same continuum. The primary difference among them is the initial region of the brain impacted and the specific prion mutation.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is described as the most severe and aggressive form of human prion disease, often leading to death within weeks or months of diagnosis, behaving like “Alzheimer’s disease on steroids.”

Prion Transmission

Prions are highly transmissible among and between most mammals. The idea of a “species barrier” is a myth.

They spread through bodily fluids and cell tissue of infected individuals, including blood, saliva, mucus, milk, urine, feces, and skin. Environmental contamination caused by infectious victims is a significant concern:

Because of prion contamination, sewage treatment systems are serving as “weapons of mass destruction and “prion incubators” because they collect and distribute deadly prions from human waste. They also are spreading forever chemicals and other toxins. These systems cannot detect or stop prions.

The practice of land application of sewage sludge (biosolids) and wastewater reclamation is actively spreading prions into food and water supplies, contaminating crops, ranches, parks, and other open lands. Prions can remain infectious in soil and personal items for decades.

Medical procedures also pose a risk of prion transmission. Dental and surgical instruments exposed to people with prion disease are impossible to sterilize and must be discarded.

Scale and Impact of the Prion Pandemic

Neurodegenerative disease is now responsible for millions of lives each year. Its prevalence is predicted to quadruple by 2050, if not sooner. It is not a normal part of aging, with increasing numbers of young adults and teenagers affected.

Experts suggest that at least 25 percent of Alzheimer’s disease diagnoses are actually CJD. This misdiagnosis means millions of patients and caregivers are uninformed and exposed to a highly infectious disease.

CJD has not been declared a reportable disease across the U.S. and many other nations, hindering tracking and containment efforts. Family members and caregivers are frequently not warned about the risks. Spouses of those with Alzheimer’s disease or CJD are 600 percent more likely to contract the disease.

A definitive diagnosis of prion disease typically requires a lumbar puncture, brain biopsy or autopsy, which is rarely performed due to contamination concerns. Doctors often make diagnoses based on symptoms, which can be vague and overlap. A blood test is now available.

Governments and industries are accused of suppressing diagnoses and ignoring the prion threat, despite prions being initially classified as select agents, under the U.S. Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. Select agents are classified as such because they pose an extreme risk to food, water, and health systems.

Prion disease is now a public health disaster that is worsening due to misinformation, mismanagement, and reckless public policies. Below is a summary of the prion pandemic:

• What are Prions?
  • Prions are a deadly and unstoppable form of protein that migrates, mutates, multiplies, and kills with unparalleled efficiency.
  • They are not alive, meaning they cannot be killed, and neutralizing them is virtually impossible. They also defy all attempts at sterilization and inactivation.
  • Prions cause fatal neurodegenerative disease by converting normal cellular prion protein into a toxic, misfolded form that erodes the brain and body. This often leads to a “wasting disease” causing loss of body and brain mass, and the development of sponge-like holes (vacuoles) in the brain.
• Prions and Neurodegenerative Diseases
  • Dr. Stanley Prusiner, an American neuroscientist, discovered and characterized prions, earning a Nobel Prize in 1997 for his work.
  • In 2012 and again in 2019, Prusiner confirmed that Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and ALS are all forms of prion diseases.
  • The clinical term for prion disease is Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE), with “transmissible” being the operative word.
  • TSE is considered a spectrum disease, meaning that conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) are on the same continuum. The primary difference among them is the initial region of the brain impacted and the specific prion mutation.
  • Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is described as the most severe and aggressive form of human prion disease, often leading to death within weeks or months of diagnosis, behaving like “Alzheimer’s disease on steroids.”
• Transmissibility and Spread
  • Prions are highly transmissible among and between most mammals. The sources emphasize that the idea of a species barrier is a myth.
  • They spread through bodily fluids and cell tissue of infected individuals, including blood, saliva, mucus, milk, urine, feces, and skin.
  • Environmental contamination is a significant concern:
    • Sewage treatment systems are identified as major “weapons of mass destruction” and “prion incubators” because they collect and distribute prions from human waste. These systems cannot detect or stop prions.
    • The practice of land application of sewage sludge (biosolids) and wastewater reclamation is actively spreading prions into food and water supplies, contaminating crops, ranches, parks, and other open lands.
    • Prions can remain infectious in soil and personal items for decades.
  • Medical procedures pose a risk: surgical instruments exposed to prions are impossible to sterilize and must be discarded.
• Scale and Impact of the Pandemic
  • Widespread misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis are critical issues:
    • Experts suggest that at least 25% of Alzheimer’s diagnoses are actually CJD.
    • This misdiagnosis means millions of patients and caregivers are uninformed and exposed to an aggressive, highly infectious disease.
    • A definitive diagnosis of prion disease typically requires a brain biopsy or autopsy, which is rarely performed due to contamination concerns. Doctors often make diagnoses based on symptoms, which can be vague and overlap.
  • CJD has not been declared a reportable disease across the U.S. and many other nations, hindering tracking and containment efforts. Family members and caregivers are frequently not warned about the risks.
  • Spouses of those with Alzheimer’s or CJD are 600 percent more likely to contract the disease.
  • The economic burden is immense, with Alzheimer’s disease alone being the most expensive disease in the United States, projected to cost more than $1 trillion by 2050.
  • Governments and industries are accused of suppressing diagnoses and ignoring the prion threat, despite prions being classified as “select agents” posing an extreme risk to food, water, and health systems under the U.S. Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002.
• Lack of Cure and Prevention
  • There is currently no effective treatment or cure for CJD or Alzheimer’s disease. Existing treatments focus only on easing symptoms.
  • Strategies to avert neurodegenerative disease include nutrition, exercise, and prion aversion.
  • Smart nutrition is suggested to help ease symptoms and potentially avert the disease. This includes recommendations like limiting saturated fats, increasing vegetable and polyunsaturated fat intake, and consuming specific vitamins and supplements.
  • Prion aversion is considered crucial, emphasizing the need to avoid the contagion in diet, water, dental/medical facilities and the overall environment.

The medical term for prion disease is transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, which includes ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease. The operative word is transmissible.

There are proven strategies to help avert neurodegenerative disease, including nutrition, exercise and prion aversion. There is not a cure for prion disease. Preview and order the eBook now to defend yourself and your family.

The post Artificial Intelligence vs. Neurodegenerative Disease appeared first on Neuroscience News.

The U.S. FDA approved a new blood test that detects tau and amyloid plaques in the brain, a key indicator of prion disease, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The test detects these deadly proteins in blood, which is not good news.

The test is cleared for use in adults aged 55 and older who exhibit signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (and should detect other forms of prion disease). The Lumipulse Plasma Ratio test, developed by Fujirebio Diagnostics, offers a less invasive and more accessible alternative to traditional diagnostic methods.

The blood test measures the levels of two proteins, pTau217 and β-amyloid 1-42, in human plasma. It then calculates their ratio, to determine the presence or absence of amyloid plaques in the brain. Clinical trials have shown that the Lumipulse test demonstrates 91.7 percent accuracy in identifying amyloid plaques in positive cases and 97.3 percent accuracy when confirming their absence in negative cases.

Two FDA-approved drugs, Leqembi and Kisunla, have shown promise in slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by targeting and removing amyloid plaques. However, their use requires confirmation of plaque presence, which underscores the importance of the new blood test.

Both the blood test and the treatments are primarily relevant for individuals with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and those who exhibit symptoms.

The blood test helps confirm the presence of amyloid plaques, which is important for determining eligibility for treatment.

Biogen is betting big on Leqembi, but it must overcome concerns about cost, efficacy and side effects. Biogen has partnered with Fujirebio, while rival Eisai is collaborating with C2N, to clinically advance and commercialize blood tests that can detect Alzheimer’s disease.

The test can’t distinguish which region of the brain is under attack. After a positive test, neurologists must observe symptoms, including movement and memory, to distinguish between Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Currently, most insurance companies, including Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance, do not cover the cost of the test.

Clearly, the blood test is a big step in the right direction. Millions of people are going undiagnosed and untreated. Unfortunately, neurodegenerative disease will continue to escalate around the world. Answers begin with the truth.

The bad news is that Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease are all forms of prion disease, which is a much more accurate and inclusive word when discussing neurodegenerative disease. Prion disease strikes most, if not all mammals, including cattle, deer, elk, moose, reindeer, camels, elephants, whales and many more. The outbreak has been in motion for years. So has the cover up.

A prion (pree-on) is a deadly form of protein that infects the entire body, while consuming the brain. Prion disease is clinically known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). As mentioned above, TSEs are transmissible. Most hospitals, neurologists, surgeons, coroners and even morticians are aware of the prion threat. Unfortunately, family members and caregivers are not being warned.

As mentioned earlier, the new blood test detects tau and beta amyloid in blood. Unfortunately, tau and beta amyloid also are known as prions.

Dr. Stanley Prusiner won the Nobel Prize in 1997 for his pioneering work on prions. In June 2012, Prusiner confirmed that Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s and even ALS are prion diseases. Unfortunately, much of his science is being ignored by policymakers and industry. Corruption and collusion among government and industry has put the entire planet at risk to the prion pathogen.

The bad news is that people and other mammals with prion disease are infectious. People are infecting animals and animals are infecting people. People are infecting people. As populations of people and animals get sicker, waste streams become deadlier. We all are caught in the crossfire.

“Good news is rare in the world of prions,” said Gary Chandler, CEO of Crossbow Communications. “This new blood test is no exception. This so-called breakthrough is just further confirmation that prions are in blood, bodily fluids and cell tissue of victims. Deadly prions migrate, mutate, multiply and kill. People with prion disease are a serious threat to public health.”

In other words, people with prion disease are walking time bombs. They are contaminating the world around them in ways that can’t be sterilized or stopped. The misinformation and mismanagement of prions is criminal. Thanks to lies by the US EPA and others, prions are being injected into our food and water supplies. Thanks to lies by other policymakers, the blood supply and blood products are hopelessly contaminated. Medical and dental facilities are exposing patients to deadly prions daily.

People with prion disease are donating blood and organs to innocent and unsuspecting victims. Municipalities and farmers are dumping tons of human sewage sludge (infectious waste) on farms and ranches, where it proceeds to permanently infect our food and water supplies. Golf courses, parks, forests and beyond are part of this illegal dumping program (missing risk assessments). The blood test is an alarm bell that could have and should have been sounded years ago.

Prion disease is now the fastest-growing cause of death in the world. The truth is more elusive than a cure. Many factors are contributing to the surge, including misinformation, disinformation and reckless public policies.

The medical term for prion disease is transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, which includes ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease. The operative word is transmissible.

Despite the smoke and mirrors, the major difference between all of these forms of neurodegenerative disease is the species under attack by infectious prions. The primary difference between Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, for example, is the region of the brain that is under attack by the pathological protein.

Livestock, wildlife and humans have been exchanging prion disease for years. It’s a vicious circle that can’t be stopped. The truth is our only hope. The new blood test offers hope in the form of truth. Answers begin with the truth.

There are proven strategies to help avert neurodegenerative disease, including nutrition, exercise and prion aversion. There is not a cure for prion disease. Preview and order the eBook now to defend yourself and your family.

The post Blood Test For Alzheimer’s Disease appeared first on Neuroscience News.

Prion disease is the fastest-growing cause of death in the world. It is ravaging most land and sea mammals, including humans, livestock, deer, whales and dolphins. So far, there isn’t a vaccine to prevent or cure this fatal neurodegenerative disease.

Prions are misfolded proteins that can cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. These same proteins cause mad cow disease (BSE) in cattle and chronic wasting disease in deer, elk, moose and reindeer. These diseases are particularly challenging because prions are highly resistant to conventional sterilization methods and can remain infectious and deadly for years, if not forever.

Dr. Stanley Prusiner, an American neuroscientist from the University of California at San Francisco, earned a Nobel Prize in 1997 for discovering and characterizing deadly prions and prion disease. President Obama awarded Prusiner the National Medal of Science in 2010 to recognize the importance of his research.

Prusiner confirmed that Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s and ALS are prion diseases.

The medical name for prion disease is Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE). The operative word is “transmissible.” Prion disease is a spectrum disease, where Alzheimer’s disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) are part of the same spectrum. CJD is much more aggressive, highly infectious and clearly mismanaged. The same can be said of Alzheimer’s disease since no one knows where along the spectrum the disease becomes infectious. A prudent mind would deduce that prion disease along the entire spectrum is infectious.

Humans, livestock and wildlife inflicted with prion disease have the infection throughout their bodies. Prions are in all bodily fluids and cell tissue. Blood, saliva, mucus, milk, urine and feces become prion pathways. Cell tissue, organs and the brain are infected. Everything that victims touch becomes hopelessly contaminated and impossible to sterilize. Blood supplies are at risk. Dental and surgical instruments can’t be sterilized once exposed to someone with prion disease. Organ donations are a death sentence. Hospitals will dispose of equipment contaminated by CJD patients, while sending patients home to die, where they proceed to expose family and friends, while contaminating entire communities. 

It’s virtually impossible to sterilize anything exposed to a person with prion disease. Hospital systems are now on high alert after several lawsuits regarding prion exposure. Not only is it impossible to neutralize prions, they migrate, mutate and multiply everywhere they are found.

“CJD patients should be quarantined, but CJD isn’t even a reportable disease across the U.S. and most countries,” said Gary Chandler, CEO of Crossbow Communications and a leading advocate for the truth about prion disease. “Neurologists are just guessing when distinguishing between CJD and Alzheimer’s disease. Mismanagement of this entire spectrum is fueling a public health disaster.”

Wastewater treatment plants have become prion incubators and distributors as sewage sludge is being dumped on crops, ranches, parks, golf courses, gardens, school grounds and beyond. Food and water supplies around the world have been hopelessly contaminated with deadly prions. Prions are microscopic so they are easily spread by wind, rainwater and floods. It’s not surprising that neurodegenerative disease is exploding around the world in most mammals.

Why is Prion Detection So Important?

Once considered to be separate, isolated medical oddities, the scientific community began connecting the dots between the many forms of prion diseases in the mid-20th century, and finally identified the underlying prion protein in 1985. Yet even after this discovery, developing diagnostic tests and possible treatments, let alone even studying the conditions, remained challenging.

In the late 1980s, a sizable outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) in European cattle and several hundred associated cases in humans demonstrated how rapidly prion disease can spread. These events spurred the medical community to prioritize research toward an efficient, mass-producible test that could be used to screen for the presence of prions in living patients, foods, and animal-based goods. 

• Public Health: Prion diseases are rare but devastating, leading to severe neurological damage and ultimately death. Early detection is crucial for preventing the spread of these diseases and protecting public health.
• Food Safety: Prion contamination in food products, particularly meat, poses a significant risk. Effective detection methods are essential for ensuring food safety and preventing outbreaks.
• Research: Understanding prion biology and developing effective treatments requires reliable and sensitive detection methods for research purposes.

Bio-Rad plays a vital role in prion detection by providing a range of products and services that support research, diagnostics, and food safety:

• Antibodies: Bio-Rad offers a comprehensive portfolio of high-quality antibodies specifically designed for prion detection. These antibodies are essential for various techniques like Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, and ELISA.
• ELISA Kits: Bio-Rad provides sensitive and reliable ELISA kits for detecting prion proteins in various samples, including blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and tissue. These kits are widely used in research and diagnostic settings.
• Western Blotting Reagents: Bio-Rad offers a complete range of reagents for Western blotting, a technique used to identify and quantify prion proteins in samples.
• Immunohistochemistry Reagents: Bio-Rad provides reagents for immunohistochemistry, a technique that allows for the visualization of prion proteins in tissue samples.
• Research Tools: Bio-Rad offers a variety of research tools, including cell culture reagents, protein purification kits, and molecular biology reagents, which are essential for studying prion biology and developing new detection methods.

By providing these essential tools and reagents, Bio-Rad empowers researchers, diagnostic labs, and food safety agencies to effectively detect and monitor prions. This contributes to:

• Early Diagnosis: Enabling faster and more accurate diagnosis of prion diseases, leading to better patient care and management.
• Food Safety Assurance: Ensuring the safety of food products by detecting prion contamination and preventing outbreaks.
• Scientific Advancement: Supporting research efforts to understand prion biology and develop effective treatments for these devastating diseases.

The medical term for prion disease is transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, which includes ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease. The operative word is transmissible.

Despite the smoke and mirrors, the major difference between all of these forms of neurodegenerative disease is the species under attack by infectious prions. The primary difference between Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, for example, is the region of the brain that is under attack by the pathological protein.

Prion detection is crucial for public health, food safety, and scientific advancement. Bio-Rad’s commitment to providing high-quality products and services for prion detection plays a vital role in supporting these critical areas.

There are proven strategies to help avert neurodegenerative disease, including nutrition, exercise and prion aversion. There is not a cure for prion disease. Preview and order the eBook now to defend yourself and your family.

The post Prion Detection Saves Lives appeared first on Neuroscience News.

Multiple sources indicate that approximately one-third of former NFL players believe they have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This number is based on a study of nearly 2,000 former NFL players.

The study found that 34 percent of the participants believed they had CTE, and those individuals were more likely to report cognitive symptoms, depression, suicidal thoughts, chronic pain, and other problems than those who did not have concerns about CTE.

Among a group of nearly 2,000 former NFL players, one-third think that they have CTE, a degenerative brain disease that can cause symptoms such as cognitive impairment, behavioral and mood changes, and motor problems, according to new findings from the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University.

Researchers surveyed retired football players whose careers spanned from 1960 to 2020. Of the 1,980 former players surveyed, 681 said that they thought they had CTE.

More than 230 said they’d had suicidal thoughts and 176 said they had a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia. But since CTE can only be diagnosed by a brain autopsy after death, it’s not known if players’ symptoms are a result of CTE or other causes.

“A key takeaway from this study is that many conditions common to former NFL players such as sleep apnea, low testosterone, high blood pressure and chronic pain can cause problems with thinking, memory and concentration,” said Grashow, director of epidemiological research initiatives for the Football Players Health Study and a senior research scientist at Harvard Chan School, in a September 23 NPR story. “While we wait for advances in CTE research to better address living players’ experiences, it is imperative that we identify conditions that are treatable. These efforts may reduce the chances that players will prematurely attribute symptoms to CTE which may lead to hopelessness and thoughts of self-harm.”

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy typically presents with several of the same symptoms seen in those who suffer from other kinds of dementia, including memory loss, aggression, confusion depression, impaired judgement, difficulty controlling impulses, erratic behavior, suicidal tendencies, anxiety, trouble sleeping, dizziness and trouble balancing. Changes in the brain and related symptoms may begin months or years—or even decades—after the last brain trauma incident.

CTE can only be definitively diagnosed through a post-mortem examination of the brain.

Therefore, it is possible that some of the players who believe they have CTE may not actually have the condition. Additionally, the study did not include all former NFL players, so it is possible that the actual percentage of players who fear CTE is higher or lower than 34 percent.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, is a progressive degenerative disease affecting people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries, that may occur in some athletes and others who have been exposed to concussions and repetitive head impacts. One theory about the cause of CTE is that repeated injuries to the brain causes a buildup of an abnormal form of the tau protein which may interfere with the function of the brain’s neurons. Not everyone who has a brain injury or who has been exposed to repetitive head impacts develops CTE. In fact, at this time, research has not yet revealed how many or which individuals exposed to repetitive injuries will develop this condition.

While both Alzheimer’s disease and CTE may present with similar symptoms, significant differences do exist between the two. Alzheimer’s disease typically presents with memory complaints and problems, whereas the initial symptoms of CTE are often problems with impaired judgment and reasoning, impulse control and aggression. The primary reason for the difference between Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other forms of dementia is the different regions of the brain that are impacted.

In Alzheimer’s disease, short-term memory loss is the primary symptom, which means that the hippocampus portion of the brain is suffering from neurodegeneration and deteriorating. In Parkinson’s disease, movement disorders are the primary symptom, which means that thecerebellum is deteriorating. The cerebellum is primarily responsible for coordinating movement, balance, and posture. It receives information from the spinal cord, muscles, and joints, and processes it to fine-tune movements.

In CTE, the frontal lobes are the portion of the brain that is suffering neurodegeneration. The frontal lobes are behind the forehead and often the region of the head that takes the brunt of the impact in contact sports. While the cerebellum plays a crucial role, other brain regions also contribute to motion and movement:

• Motor cortex: Located in the frontal lobe, the motor cortex initiates voluntary movements.
• Basal ganglia: These structures help plan and initiate movements, as well as regulate muscle tone.
• Brainstem: The brainstem coordinates basic movements, such as walking and breathing.

Together, these brain regions work in harmony to produce smooth, coordinated movements.

The number of athletes who have been posthumously diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) has grown significantly in recent years. This degenerative brain disease is linked to repeated head impacts, often experienced in contact sports like football, boxing, and hockey.  

Here are a few well-known athletes who were diagnosed with CTE:

• Mike Webster: A former Pittsburgh Steelers center and four-time Super Bowl champion, Webster suffered from severe cognitive decline and mental health issues in his later years. His autopsy revealed Stage 3 CTE.  
• Junior Seau: A former NFL linebacker known for his aggressive playing style, Seau tragically took his own life in 2012. His brain was donated for research and was found to have Stage 3 CTE.
• Aaron Hernandez: The former New England Patriots tight end, who was convicted of murder, was also found to have Stage 3 CTE after his death by suicide.
• Andre Waters: A former Philadelphia Eagles safety, Waters struggled with addiction and mental health problems before his death. He was diagnosed with Stage 3 CTE.
• Vincent Jackson: Chargers
• Demaryius Thomas: Denver Broncos
• Ken Stabler: The Raiders
• Frank Gifford: New York Giants

CTE is likely a form of prion disease. As mentioned earlier, the primary difference between Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other forms of prion disease, is the region of the brain that is under attack at the initial phase of the onset. Neurodegenerative disease typically spreads throughout the brain and body, so symptoms progress over time. A variety of factors can trigger prion disease, including genetics, head trauma and poor nutrition.

CTE is a progressive degenerative disease affecting people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries, that may occur in some athletes and others who have been exposed to concussions and repetitive head impacts. One theory about the cause of CTE is that repeated injuries to the brain causes a buildup of an abnormal form of the tau protein which may interfere with the function of the brain’s neurons.

Dr. Stanley Prusiner, an American neuroscientist from the University of California at San Francisco, earned a Nobel Prize in 1997 for discovering and characterizing deadly prions and prion disease. President Obama awarded Prusiner the National Medal of Science in 2010 to recognize the importance of his research.

Prusiner claims that amyloid beta and tau are both prions. For this reason and many more, prions are spreading through our food, water, health systems and beyond. Prions are unstoppable. Misinformation, disinformation, corruption and collusion are compounding the threat. Contrary to popular deception, prion disease is highly transmissible.

Read or listen to the NPR article: A third of former NFL players surveyed believe they have CTE

Neurodegenerative disease is the fastest-growing cause of death on the planet. Many factors are contributing to the surge, including misinformation, disinformation and reckless public policies.

The medical term for prion disease is transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, which includes ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease. The operative word is transmissible.

There are proven strategies to help avert neurodegenerative disease, including nutrition, exercise and prion aversion. There is not a cure for prion disease. Preview and order the eBook now to defend yourself and your family.

The post NFL Players Fear CTE appeared first on Neuroscience News.

Researchers have developed a new gene-silencing tool called CHARMs (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats Modulators). This tool has shown promise as a potential treatment for many forms of neurodegenerative disease.

Prion disease is a fatal brain disorder that afflicts mammals. Prion disease is incurable and highly transmissible. In some cases, it is inherited.

Prion disease is better known as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease and more.

Prion disease, which leads to swift neurodegeneration and death, is caused by the presence of misshapen versions of the prion protein. These cause a cascade effect in the brain: the faulty prion proteins deform other proteins, and together these proteins not only stop functioning properly but also form toxic aggregates that kill neurons. Mad cow disease is infectious. So are other forms of prion disease.

New therapies, including antibodies, are showing promise in slowing the disease progression, but there isn’t a silver bullet on the horizon. Gene editing could be the next frontier against prion infection.

Drug development is typically slow: The pipeline from basic research discoveries that provide the basis for a new drug to clinical trials and then production of a widely available medicine can take decades. But decades can feel impossibly far off to someone who currently has a fatal disease. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Senior Group Leader Sonia Vallabh is acutely aware of the race against time, because the topic of her research is a neurodegenerative and ultimately fatal disease — fatal familial insomnia, a type of prion disease — that she will almost certainly develop as she ages.

Vallabh and her husband, Eric Minikel, switched careers and became researchers after they learned that Vallabh carries a disease-causing version of the prion protein gene and that there is no effective therapy for fatal prion diseases. The two now run a lab at the Broad Institute, where they are working to develop drugs that can prevent and treat these diseases, and their deadline for success is not based on grant cycles or academic expectations but on the ticking time bomb in Vallabh’s genetic code.

That is why Vallabh was excited to discover, when she entered into a collaboration with Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research member Jonathan Weissman, that Weissman’s group likes to work at full throttle. In less than two years, Weissman, Vallabh, and their collaborators have developed a set of molecular tools called CHARMs that can turn off disease-causing genes such as the prion protein gene — as well as, potentially, genes coding for many other proteins implicated in neurodegenerative and other diseases — and they are refining those tools to be good candidates for use in human patients.

Although the tools still have many hurdles to pass before the researchers will know if they work as therapeutics, the team is encouraged by the speed with which they have developed the technology thus far.

“The spirit of the collaboration since the beginning has been that there was no waiting on formality,” Vallabh says. “As soon as we realized our mutual excitement to do this, everything was off to the races.”

Co-corresponding authors Weissman and Vallabh and co-first authors Edwin Neumann, a graduate student in Weissman’s lab, and Tessa Bertozzi, a postdoc in Weissman’s lab, describe CHARM — which stands for Coupled Histone tail for Autoinhibition Release of Methyltransferase — in a paper published today in the journal Science.

“With the Whitehead and Broad Institutes right next door to each other, I don’t think there’s any better place than this for a group of motivated people to move quickly and flexibly in the pursuit of academic science and medical technology,” says Weissman, who is also a professor of biology at MIT and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. “CHARMs are an elegant solution to the problem of silencing disease genes, and they have the potential to have an important position in the future of genetic medicines.”

Most drugs work by targeting a protein. CHARMs, however, work further upstream, turning off the gene that codes for the faulty protein so that the protein never gets made in the first place. CHARMs do this by epigenetic editing, in which a chemical tag gets added to DNA in order to turn off or silence a target gene. Unlike gene editing, epigenetic editing does not modify the underlying DNA — the gene itself remains intact. However, like gene editing, epigenetic editing is stable, meaning that a gene switched off by CHARM should remain off. This would mean patients would only have to take CHARM once, as opposed to protein-targeting medications that must be taken regularly as the cells’ protein levels replenish.

Research in animals suggests that the prion protein isn’t necessary in a healthy adult, and that in cases of disease, removing the protein improves or even eliminates disease symptoms. In a person who hasn’t yet developed symptoms, removing the protein should prevent disease altogether. In other words, epigenetic editing could be an effective approach for treating genetic diseases such as inherited prion diseases. The challenge is creating a new type of therapy.

Fortunately, the team had a good template for CHARM: a research tool called CRISPRoff that Weissman’s group previously developed for silencing genes. CRISPRoff uses building blocks from CRISPR gene editing technology, including the guide protein Cas9 that directs the tool to the target gene. CRISPRoff silences the targeted gene by adding methyl groups, chemical tags that prevent the gene from being transcribed, or read into RNA, and so from being expressed as protein. When the researchers tested CRISPRoff’s ability to silence the prion protein gene, they found that it was effective and stable.

Several of its properties, though, prevented CRISPRoff from being a good candidate for a therapy. The researchers’ goal was to create a tool based on CRISPRoff that was just as potent but also safe for use in humans, small enough to deliver to the brain, and designed to minimize the risk of silencing the wrong genes or causing side effects.

Read The Full Story About Gene Editing and Prion Disease

Prion disease is now the fastest-growing cause of death in the world. The truth is more elusive than a cure. Many factors are contributing to the surge, including misinformation, disinformation and reckless public policies.

The medical term for prion disease is transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, which includes ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease. The operative word is transmissible.

Despite the smoke and mirrors, the major difference between all of these forms of neurodegenerative disease is the species under attack by infectious prions. The primary difference between Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, for example, is the region of the brain that is under attack by the pathological protein.

There are proven strategies to help avert neurodegenerative disease, including nutrition, exercise and prion aversion. There is not a cure for prion disease. Preview and order the eBook now to defend yourself and your family.

The post Can Gene Editing Prevent Prion Disease appeared first on Neuroscience News.

A variety of factors can trigger neurodegenerative disease, including genetics, head trauma and poor nutrition. Thanks to Ozempic, millions of people are eating better, losing weight and cutting their risks for developing neurodegenerative disease.

Ozempic is a prescription drug that is approved to treat type 2 diabetes in adults. Doctors may also prescribe it off-label for weight loss. (With off-label use, a doctor prescribes a drug for a purpose other than what it’s approved for.) Ozempic belongs to a group of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists.

According to a new study, patients had a 48 percent lower risk of dementia after taking Ozempic for one year.

The study underscores the importance of nutritional management in the prevention of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Patients who are taking Ozempic must follow a balanced diet during treatment. This includes limiting foods high in added sugar and saturated fat. Limiting certain foods may also help prevent side effects from Ozempic. Many report losing their cravings for these foods while in treatment. To manage blood sugar levels and help with weight loss, it’s important to use Ozempic along with regular exercise and a balanced diet.

An Oxford study showed that Ozempic was linked to lower rates of dementia and a range of mental problems. The study is the latest to show that semaglutide, the active ingredient in both Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and its obesity medicine Wegovy, can treat more than diabetes and weight loss. The study analyzed more than 100 million medical records encompassing a vast range of patients in the United States.

The study, published in the Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine journal, explored more than 100 million medical records of U.S. patients. Initially, researchers wanted to see if Ozempic increased the risk of several neurological and psychiatric conditions in the first year of use compared with three common antidiabetic drugs. Along the way, researchers found that patients taking Ozempic had lower rates of cognitive decline and nicotine use. The study helps ease concerns that treatment with semaglutide increases the risk of suicidal thoughts.

“Our study is observational, and these results should be replicated in a clinical trial to confirm our findings,” said Dr. Max Taquet, senior author of the study. “This is good news for patients who have psychiatric disorders and who are at an increased risk of diabetes.”

The food and water that we consume can help prevent and treat neurodegenerative disease. High cholesterol increases the risk by more than 70 percent, while diabetes and high blood pressure carry a 30-40 percent greater risk. Individuals who are overweight before age 65 face a 40 percent greater risk for developing neurodegenerative disease.

“Ozempic not only poses no additional risk for neurological and psychiatric conditions but may also confer protective benefits against cognitive decline and nicotine addiction,” said Dr. Riccardo De Giorgi, the lead author from Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry. “This could pave the way for new therapeutic uses of Ozempic beyond diabetes management.” 

We all should avoid partially hydrogenated oils containing trans fatty acids. Trans fats help maintain a product’s shelf life, but they are detrimental to human health. Trans fats may actually assist in cell death, which could explain why they have been linked to cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

The primary source of unhealthy trans fats in a person’s diet is partially hydrogenated oil, which can be found in processed foods, according to the AHA. These artificial trans fats are created through an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them solidify. The FDA ruled that these fats are so bad for health that manufacturers had to remove all trans fats from their products by January 2020.

You should remove partially hydrogenated oils from your diet, too. If you buy a food that has less than 0.5 g of trans fat, a company can label it 0 g of trans fat, according to the Mayo Clinic, and those small amounts of trans fat can quickly add up. To see if a product contains trans fat, look for “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” on the ingredient list.

In general, there are no foods that you need to completely avoid during your Ozempic treatment.

However, limiting certain foods can help manage your blood sugar, boost weight loss, and prevent side effects. During your Ozempic treatment, limit:

• products with added sugars, such as:
  • sugar-sweetened drinks like soft drinks and many fruit drinks
  • candies
  • desserts, including cakes, ice cream, and cookies
  • breakfast cereals or breakfast bars
• foods high in saturated fat, such as:
  • meats, particularly beef, pork, and lamb
  • processed or cured meats
  • high fat or full-fat dairy products
  • butter
  • fried foods
• items high in sodium, including:
  • processed or cured meats
  • many canned or pre-packaged items, such as frozen meals or canned soups and vegetables
  • condiments and salad dressings
• alcohol

The medical term for prion disease is transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, which includes ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease. The operative word is transmissible.

There are proven strategies to help avert neurodegenerative disease, including nutrition, exercise and prion aversion. There is not a cure for prion disease. Preview and order the eBook now to defend yourself and your family.

The post Ozempic Might Help Prevent Dementia appeared first on Neuroscience News.