/sci/ - Science & Math

>>12805249
Terrified. If you evert encounter one and can't run away, crouch down in a submissive position, allowing the prion to ritually mount you. A violent prion is a pigeon in a skinner box: give it submissive behavior and it leaves you alone.

>>12805249
>How concerned should I be about prions and their related illnesses?
Terrified. If you ever encounter one and can't run away, crouch down in a submissive position, allowing the prion to ritually mount you. A violent prion is a pigeon in a skinner box: give it submissive behavior and it leaves you alone.

>>12805263

Thanks man. Will do.

>>12805249
>How concerned should I be about prions and their related illnesses?
Not very concerned. They're kind of overpriced, but the gas mileage is really good and these days they have decent enough power.

>>12805249
I also have OCD, but I went to university for a medical research degree and masters. My specialization is the brain.

Transmitted prion diseases occur mostly through eating other humans, or eating animals that have a prion disease. Mad cow disease was from cows being fed other cows, similar to some human cannibalistic practices that cause kuru.
variant CJD in humans has been suspected to have been caused by eating mad cow disease beef.
The only other cause I've heard of is before prions were discovered, they weren't sterilising surgical equipment enough, so some people got vCJD through contaminated surgical equipment in brain surgery.

TL;DR, if you're having concerns about prion diseases, they only occur in animals. They're so rare that they almost certainly won't affect you during your normal lifespan. Simply eating a vegan diet will mean you won't eat any animal products, and so won't be exposed to prions in your food.

If you need more information, then reply to me here. I might make a throwaway email so you can ask me questions, I'll see if this thread is going to die first though

>>12805249
mine are they/them, thank you

>>12805263
Terrible advice.
What you want to do is let it know it has to respect you. You plant your feet in the ground, look it straight in its eyes and say it ain't getting none of your proteins and that's it, end of story.

>>12805310
Look it in the eye, give it a firm handshake, and thank it for its time. That's the surest way to get a prion.

>>12805294

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I've heard about the medical equipment not being sterilized properly, but from my understanding, prions are incredibly difficult to destroy.

Read the stuff that refutes prion theory, with some people claiming viruses are ultimately to blame. Hasn't gained widespread adoption, and I'm not totally convinced.

I've also read that soil/plants could potentially be contaminated with prions. Whether or not these are capable of causing vCJD in a human is unknown to me. My information here could also be way off.

Imagine how many people ate beef from infected cows during the prion epidemic in the UK. How did only a couple hundred progress to full blown CJD?

It's difficult for me to read about it due to how emotionally invested I am in it. This fear has completely controlled my diet and my life.

>>12805294

I was able to eat dairy for a while. Recently stopped due to these fears. So much that I don't know, which serves only to make it more terrifying.

>>12805319
prions are real
they cause all the shit youre scared of
you can't kill them or denature them without killing yourself
prions WILL form it's just a matter of when; if youre unlucky it will happen when youre young

the machine got too complicated, there is no escape

>>12805327

Why haven't they become more wide spread? Why don't we see a massive infection breaking out in the food supply?

There is clearly a piece of the puzzle I'm missing.

>>12805335
they're fugging with your head man
they aren't more widespread because it's super rare that a protein will exist that both:
is used somewhere in the body where it can do maximal harm (the brain)
and have the ability to transfer their misfolded shape because molecules want to be in a low-energy state the prion protein has to be lower energy or a catalyst compared to the natural protein
also it needs to evade the body's ways of detecting and destroying it or in some cases our bodies use prion-like proteins for various tasks so that's more like a symbiotic relationship

>>12805335
it's really hard to transfer from animal to animal luckily. You really only have to worry about spontaneous generation which is rare so no worries.

>>12805419

why is it hard

Prions are pop sci. The chances are so insignificant it's not even worth discussing.

>>12805421
blood brain barrier
food safety standards
body designed to prevent dying from common things
rarity of initial generation also helps keep cases down

someone has to seriously fuck up for you to get them via an external source

>>12805440
by designed I mean evolved btw

>>12805440

But then what the fuck happened in Britain in the 80s? BBB didn't protect those people. They got fucked hard.

>>12805249
When I realize that I have no control in a situation, that usually is the license I need to stop worrying. As an OCD, do you not reach this conclusion? I don't think you can do anything about a deadly prion mutation.

>>12805473

I do reach that conclusion. I'm not worried about a random prion mutation, I'm concerned about contracting it via food, which leads me to try to control what I eat.

From my experience, this illness is about being unable to accept uncertainty. I know prion diseases are incredibly rare. But in my mind, every time I eat, it feels like a coin flip that's deciding whether or not I'm going to die an incredibly excruciating death.

>>12805480
How do you have time to fixate on this one spooky medical thing? If you can't accept risk how are you not in a constant panic about the stakes of living a modern life where you have to maintain a job and stay afloat?

>>12805480
meh, you won't have the cognizance to feel anxiety or suffering when you get to an advanced state. You'll just be a confused animal, then you'll die.

>>12805484

Fair question. I have no idea. Things like that never bother me. It's like the risk evaluation part of my mind is completely skewed.

>>12805492
You sound very capable. Run for office and the unclean shall be swept away.