DARPA Funds Project to See How Meds Trigger Prion Diseases

Needs to be done. And I really don't care who's paying for it. 'Bout time I say. But how will they really use the knowledge? ...However, it's money from the public so we have a right to the research results - and it's better to know how things work so we can deal with reality not fairytales.

Just so you know, prion diseases include Mad Cow Disease as well as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes and more, depending on how far you want to stretch the definition. Many common medications are linked to misfolded proteins or "prions" and their related diseases.

CU awarded DARPA cooperative agreement to assess mechanisms of drugs and chemical agents

...DARPA—an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense—wants to better understand the biochemical mechanisms at work during cellular exposures to biological or chemical agents to help prevent mortality during potential conflicts. But Old said the research effort also is expected to lead to new, broad-scale techniques to analyze cellular processes for wide societal benefit.

"Traditionally it takes decades to figure out how drugs affect an organism's biology," said Old. "Our goal is to rapidly speed up the process, identifying how these compounds work in weeks. This could lower the barriers to developing effective drugs that have minimal side effects." [sic]

...the strategy is to comprehensively measure all major classes of biomolecules that respond to any cellular treatment or biological signal within milliseconds to days, which will help determine the key molecular events that mediate cellular responses. The team is developing new microfluidic devices to control and manipulate individual cell components in order to obtain subcellular resolution that will provide new insights into the functions of individual organelles and proteins within cells.

So, the elites are looking for new ways to kill us without us knowing are they?

-Peace-

soficrow
'Bout time I say. But how ill they really use the knowledge? ...But it's money from the public so we have a right to the research results - and it's better to know how things work so we can deal with reality not fairytales.

Well, so very true, no doubt about it lets hope they dont wait 50 years to
present the real facts. ( nah they wouldnt do that would they ? )

And I might add, this puts Sofi right up there with the greatest minds,
that we have all had the benefit off right here with us!
Thanks, once again - great work my friend.

Very nice.

Hopefully this means the US will eventually stop playing lab rat for the rest of the world as far as pharmaceuticals are concerned.

I heard the other day that Australia has to wait 14 years after a drug has been in US markets before assessing it's long term benefits.

Apparently, many other countries have similar policies in place.

Our only long-term plan so far is based on people calling in after they are already having complications.

If they are under an assumption that the drug is safe, and already have been on it for years, how are they to know it's the drug which is causing the problem?

Doesn't seem too wise.

S + F

soficrow

Just so you know, prion diseases include Mad Cow Disease as well as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes and more, depending on how far you want to stretch the definition. Many common medications are linked to misfolded proteins or "prions" and their related diseases.

Am I confused here, or are yo saying that some common medications are linked to prions....and could therefore be causing these other diseases.
As in take a stomach remedy and end up susceptible to Mad Cow????

There's many suspected causes of prion misfolding, one of them is consuming meat from an animal source that had consumed meat of it's own kind and/or eating meat from an animal that consumed contaminated feed sources containing the misfolded proteins.

Don't have much to say about your thread since it's just giving us a heads up that studies will be underway about meds attributing to the cause of protein folding. All I can give is a modest nod to that since as of now there's no science supporting it.
I however agree more studies need to be done on all meds in general to figure out if they're causing bad, life threatening, long-term conditions and what these specific conditions are (including the possibility of prion folding)

Science supports the fact that we do not know very much about what many meds can do to someones mind and body, especially many of these newer meds that are coming out.

This medication has proven somewhat effective in the treatment or management of prion folding, and diseases that are suspected to be caused from prion folding like Alzheimers and Dementia.

It's a gen-2 prescription antihistamine called Astemizole. It's also shown to be quite effective for treating malaria.
en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe

DontTreadOnMe

soficrow

Just so you know, prion diseases include Mad Cow Disease as well as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes and more, depending on how far you want to stretch the definition. Many common medications are linked to misfolded proteins or "prions" and their related diseases.

Am I confused here, or are yo saying that some common medications are linked to prions....and could therefore be causing these other diseases.
As in take a stomach remedy and end up susceptible to Mad Cow????

As I have been saying for years here, some medications are linked to prions - and could cause protein misfolding diseases. I also have been pointing out that after Linus Pauling discovered the actin protein's "a" and "b" conformations in 1950, Big Pharma focused on proteins for drug development, quietly created the (now-defunct) science of "proteinology" and employed thousands of "proteinologists" to create drugs targeted to proteins. Drugs specifically targeted to proteins are particularly suspect.

Asking whether or not taking a stomach remedy might make one susceptible to Mad Cow is a good question, especially given that most Mad Cow exposures would occur in the gut via ingestion. However, at this point the (mainly circumstantial) evidence implicating medications in prion diseases points to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Also, don't forget that hundreds of protein misfolding diseases have "appeared" over the past few decades - many pointing to chemical exposures, and also implicating medications.

reply to post by soficrow

Also, don't forget that hundreds of protein misfolding diseases have "appeared" over the past few decades - many pointing to chemical exposures, and also implicating medications.

Chemicals?
So far science supports hard metal toxicity such as aluminum toxicity and mercury intoxication
Science supports glucamate, and the overstimulation of glucomate receptors.

There is no science so far that supports chemicals "in medications" as of now.
Nott saying it's impossible. I'm saying no science supports this as of now.

reply to post by unb3k44n7

...as of now there's no science supporting it.
I however agree more studies need to be done on all meds in general to figure out if they're causing bad, life threatening, long-term conditions and what these specific conditions are (including the possibility of prion folding)

...This medication has proven somewhat effective in the treatment or management of prion folding, and diseases that are suspected to be caused from prion folding like Alzheimers and Dementia.

It's a gen-2 prescription antihistamine called Astemizole. It's also shown to be quite effective for treating malaria.
en.wikipedia.org...

Any "environmental perturbation" can cause proteins to misfold and potentially, create prions. Unfortunately, drug manufacture involves numerous such "perturbations" from temperature changes to centrifugal forces, creating numerous and ample opportunities for the formation of prions when the "mix" includes proteins.

FYI - There is MUCH evidence that medications are implicated in prion and protein misfolding diseases. Of note, a decade ago or so there was an FDA funded committee looking at the possibility that vaccines might be contaminated with Mad Cow disease - the committee's findings were that vaccine formulations were contaminated with so many different prion strains, there was no point attempting to filter out just one.

As far as antihistamines treating Alzheimer's and dementia go, you might be interested to know that antihistamines are on the list of known "prion inhibitors" along with curcumin, green tea and other anti-malarial compounds.

New Inhibitors of Scrapie-Associated Prion Protein Formation in a Library of 2,000 Drugs and Natural Products

Several classes of compounds were represented in the 17 most potent inhibitors, including naturally occurring polyphenols (e.g., tannic acid and tea extracts), phenothiazines, antihistamines, statins, and antimalarial compounds. ...many are either approved human drugs or edible natural products...

reply to post by unb3k44n7

There's many suspected causes of prion misfolding, one of them is consuming meat from (a contaminated) animal source...

No, consuming meat contaminated with Mad Cow does not cause proteins to misfold - it causes a prion infection by already misfolded proteins. What causes proteins to misfold and potentially become prions is virtually any environmental perturbation during critical points of the natural folding process - changes tend to mess up the process. Such "perturbations" include temperature changes, radiation exposure, chemical exposures and more.

reply to post by soficrow

There is MUCH evidence

Where? Show me.

the committee's findings were that vaccine formulations were contaminated with so many different prion strains, there was no point attempting to filter out just one.

If this true, then they were not taken off the market for consumers why?

As far as antihistamines treating Alzheimer's and dementia go, you might be interested to know that antihistamines are on the list of known "prion inhibitors"

I am aware. Seeing as how I stated that already.

And you might be interested to know that it is not all antihistamines that blanket-fall into this category. It is only specific antihistamines like Astemizole due to it's chemical structure and specific inherent properties that are not shared with other antihistamines.

reply to post by unb3k44n7

the committee's findings were that vaccine formulations were contaminated with so many different prion strains, there was no point attempting to filter out just one.

If this true, then they were not taken off the market for consumers why?

Why weren't vaccines taken off the market when they were found to be contaminated with a huge variety of different prion strains? Well, let's see. ...For starters, vaccines are the only available defence against so many killer diseases - like polio, flu, and more. ...Vaccines are a HUGE money-maker - and risk-free too, now that Big Pharma has contracts with governments specifying that they cannot be held liable for any "problems." So I'd have to say the money is why, and the fact that there are no alternatives.

Some readers might not know about proteins, misfolded proteins, prions and prion diseases. here is some basic information.

Molecular and cellular aspects of protein misfolding and disease

Proteins are essential elements for life. They are building blocks of all organisms and the operators of cellular functions. Humans produce a repertoire of at least 30,000 different proteins, each with a different role. Each protein has its own unique sequence and shape (native conformation) to fulfill its specific function. The appearance of incorrectly shaped (misfolded) proteins occurs on exposure to environmental changes. …

Protein folding is the process by which a protein structure assumes its functional shape or conformation. It is the physical process by which a polypeptide folds into its characteristic and functional three-dimensional structure from random coil. …

The correct three-dimensional structure is essential to function, although some parts of functional proteins may remain unfolded.[4] Failure to fold into native structure generally produces inactive proteins, but in some instances misfolded proteins have modified or toxic functionality. Several neurodegenerative and other diseases are believed to result from the accumulation of amyloid fibrils formed by misfolded proteins.[5] Many allergies are caused by incorrect folding of some proteins, for the immune system does not produce antibodies for certain protein structures.[6]

…Under some conditions proteins will not fold into their biochemically functional forms. Temperatures above or below the range that cells tend to live in will cause thermally unstable proteins to unfold or "denature" (this is why boiling makes an egg white turn opaque). High concentrations of solutes, extremes of pH, mechanical forces, and the presence of chemical denaturants can do the same.

reply to post by soficrow
[mo

Vaccines are a HUGE money-maker

Somewhat, but I wouldn't say huge. Flu shots in particular are known to be given out for free every flu season.

Phama corps/medication = money. Yes. That profit is HUGE. Vaccines... eh, debatable.

reply to post by unb3k44n7

There is no science so far that supports chemicals "in medications" as of now.

I am most concerned that drug manufacturing processes actually create prions when proteins are used as an ingredient. I would suggest that such drugs "work" to treat disease by redirecting an already-established protein misfolding process, and creating a new prion strain that manifests as a "side effect." It also is quite clear that this is one thing specifically that DARPA is looking at.

reply to post by unb3k44n7

...Flu shots in particular are known to be given out for free every flu season.

Phama corps/medication = money. Yes. That profit is HUGE. Vaccines... eh, debatable.

Big Pharma does NOT donate their vaccines - our governments pay for those shots with our tax contributions, sometimes (often?) at a premium. And don't forget that nifty little clause in the contract absolving Big Pharma of any responsibility and liability for any 'problems' with said vaccines.

There is merit in what you're saying.

So far there aren't enough studies being done on these specific matters. I agree with you that more needs to be done and It is good on you to take the time to bring these matters up for others to view and possibly help promote more research and awareness.

However, science is still not prevalent at this time to back this specific topic up until more studies are done. Period.

reply to post by unb3k44n7


Thank you, and thanks for posting. As far as the evidence goes, it does exist - else why would DARPA invest $14.6 million to gain "a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms"? ...I've been tracking prion news and research for over a decade so to me the medication link is a "given." If I can find the time I'll see if I can pull up some old references - otherwise you probably can find a lot of the info here in my old threads and posts.

reply to post by unb3k44n7

...science is still not prevalent at this time to back this specific topic up until more studies are done. Period.

Remembered your informational deficits when I tripped over this one. Exclamation point. ; )

A Role for Protein Misfolding in Immunogenicity of Biopharmaceuticals

For largely unknown reasons, biopharmaceuticals evoke potentially harmful antibody formation. Such antibodies can inhibit drug efficacy and, when directed against endogenous proteins, cause life-threatening complications. …Several commercially available biopharmaceutical products were found to contain misfolded proteins. In some cases, the level of misfolded protein was found to increase upon storage under conditions prescribed by the manufacturer. Our results indicate that misfolding of therapeutic proteins is an immunogenic signal and a risk factor for immunogenicity.

Immunogenicity being "side effects."