Irradiated Foods Cause Severe Neurological Damage

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Irradiated Foods Cause Severe Neurological Damage

by: Sherry Baker, Health Sciences Editor

_http://www.naturalnews.com/025971.html_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/025971.html)

 

(NaturalNews) In a study just published in the Proceedings of the National

Academy of Sciences, scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison

(UW-Madison) report on cats developing severe neurological symptoms due to a

degradation of myelin, the fatty insulator of nerve fibers called axons.

Because myelin facilitates the conduction of nerve signals, when it is lost or

damaged there can be impairment of sensation, movement, thinking and other

functions, depending on what particular nerves are affected. This loss of

myelin

is found in several disorders of the central nervous system in humans -- the

best known being multiple sclerosis (MS).

 

So what caused the cats to develop neurological problems? Although the

researchers* statement to the media practically buries the fact, a close read

shows the animals were fine until fed irradiated food. What*s more, when they

were taken off the irradiated diet, the animals' nervous systems began healing.

 

The new study took place when the researchers were faced with reports of a

mysterious illness in pregnant cats. A commercial company had been testing

various diets on the animals to see how the food impacted growth and

development

in the felines. The food used, it turns out, had been irradiated.

Irradiation, which is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

for many

human as well as animal foods, involves exposing foods briefly to a radiant

energy source such as gamma rays or electron beams in order to kill bacteria.

 

Some of the cats eating the irradiated cat food exhibited very severe

neurological symptoms, including movement disorders, vision loss and even

paralysis. **After being on the diet for three to four months, the pregnant cats

started to develop progressive neurological disease,** said Ian Duncan, a

professor of medical sciences at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine

and an

authority on demyelinating diseases, in a statement to the media.

 

The sick cats were shown to have widely distributed the very severe

demyelization of the central nervous system. Their neurological symptoms were

very

much like those seen in people with MS and other demyelization disorders. When

the felines were taken off the irradiated foods, they began to recover

slowly. However, according to Dr. Duncan, the restored myelin sheaths were no

longer as thick as normal myelin sheaths.

 

The finding is important, the scientists concluded in their study, because

it shows the central nervous system retains the ability to reestablish myelin

-- so strategies that could be developed to spur the growth of new myelin

sheaths anywhere nerves themselves are preserved could be a possible therapy

for

treating a host of severe neurological diseases in humans. **The key thing

is that it absolutely confirms the notion that remyelinating strategies are

clinically important,** Duncan stated.

 

Curiously, although the scientists' related their findings to possible human

applications, they were quick to dismiss a possible connection between

people, irradiated food and health risk. **We think it is extremely unlikely

that

(irradiated food) could become a human health problem,** Duncan explained in

the media statement. **We think it is species specific.**

 

However, not everyone agrees irradiated food is fine for humans or animals.

According to the Center for Food Safety, studies have shown irradiation

produces volatile toxic chemicals such as benzene and toluene, which are known

or

suspected to cause cancer and birth defects. A 2001 study found an

association between colon tumors and 2-alkylcyclobutanones (2-ACB*s), a new

chemical

compound detected only in foods that have been irradiated.

 

For more information:

_http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/_ (http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/)

....

_http://firedoglake.com/2008/08/23/n_ (http://firedoglake.com/2008/08/23/n)

....

_http://www.fda.gov/opacom/catalog/i_ (http://www.fda.gov/opacom/catalog/i)

....

 

 

 

About the author

Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in

Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry,

Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA's " Healthy

Years " newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine's " Focus on Health Aging "

newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic's " Men's Health Advisor " newsletter and many

others.

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