Comment by eth0up | Hacker News Reader

Comment by eth0up | Hacker News Reader

I wonder if this "alkaline hydrolysis" effectively destroys prions. With 1/9 people over 65 afflicted with Alzheimer's - and that's diagnosed - I am of the unconventional suspicion that prions are a culprit[1], though I am aware it is not a well-received suspicion. We've known for years that plants can uptake prions. We've verified that in cases of chronic-wasting-disease (etiology = prions) animal droppings from infected wildlife contain prions, which implies that humans may also pass prions through fecal matter and are perhaps more easily spread than popularly accepted. With the common application of Sludge (municipally treated and redistributed sewage) and the primarily bacterial means of processing it, it too seems a source of spreading prions. I wonder if more caution is due regarding the spreading of such a persistently virulent thing, and if the risk of prions isn't underestimated in many respects.

[1] James Ironside on prions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlIYGYA5q0s

Protein staining in the study of Alzheimer’s disease is a common (and old) element of its analysis. This is part of how we identified tau protein plaque formation as part of the disease.

Prions are not part of the disease. They would stain, and be visible on microscopy. They are exactly the (type of) substance that has been stained for, and are more than large enough to show up on the various types of microscopy regularly performed on these tissue samples.

I’m trying to find a more explicit way of saying: these are easy to eee in exactly the ways that we examine these brains, so no, it’s not a prion disease.

Any insight on the possibility of transmissible amyloid pathology? http://www.nature.com/news/the-red-hot-debate-about-transmis...

It's super unlikely. Having worked in the field, I am almost certain that amyloids are a consequence of, not a cause of the disease. Otherwise, valeant's drug would not have failed so spectacularly a few weeks ago.

Prions (transmissible protein configurations in general) are not a part of the Alzheimer's disease. If it were, the valeant drug would not have failed so spectacularly two weeks ago.

The major risk factor in Alzheimer's is susceptibility to oxidative damage in the brain.

Is there any evidence that people who are at high risk for Alzheimer's will benefit from a regular regimen of antioxidants, then?

I Googled it and from what I saw as long as the temperature and pressure is high enough the prions would be destroyed.

Also, prions are a concern without fringe conspiracy theories.

If bases are good at one thing, it's destroying and denaturing proteins.

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