Customer Reviews

Dying for a Hamburger: Modern Meat Processing and the Epidemic of Alzheimer's Disease

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has a good argument to a point, but in my opinion drops the ball on dairy cattle. These aniimals are not slaughtered at a relatively young age, as with beef cattle, but are kept in the breeding and milk production cycle as long as possible. This seems to be an ample length of time for symptoms of mad cow disease or other prion-type maladies to surface, but there seems to be no report that this has ever happened. The author mentions that not only are (or were) dairy cows more likely to be fed the "cannibalistic" protein supplements, but are in fact more likely to be made into hamburger, which he says exacerbates the spread of prionic diseases. So the excuse for lack of evidence falls short with dairy cattle, and there seems to be little to support his conclusions. His statistics are also questionable in that only 50,000 or so deaths are attributed to Alzheimer's in the US for any given year; given the average 8-year progression from first syptoms until death, and the 35 million or so persons over 65 years old, the report of cases and nursing home residents seems exaggerated. Only 2.5 million deaths occur annually in this country, a very stable number since 1990, and it seems unlikely that 500,000 of them are individuals with Alzheimer's but only a tenth that many are attributed to it.

I have to admit I didn't know what to expect from this book....what kind of arguments would the author's use to connect modern meat processing/consumption to alzheimer's? My conclusion?....I feel the authors make excellent arguments for the case. The authors use an impressive amount of data to back up their assertions. While reading the book, doubts I may have had on an idea they were presenting were shattered after they backed up their ideas again and again with hard facts. If you're a skeptic like me, I think this book at the very least will make you question a few things that you may never have thought about before on the subject. Highly Recommended!

I happened upon this book, and after reading the inside flap, I was drawn in. Being one who doesn't eat a lot of meat, I was curious as to the authors' hypotheses surrounding various prion diseases (Alzheimer's, CJD, BSE). At first, I prepared myself for reading this book over several weeks, but when I started reading, I couldn't put it down! That says a lot--this book is wonderfully written, for the medical expert and layperson alike, and easy to follow. The authors have done an excellent job of making their case for the link between the modern meat industry, forced cannibalism of cattle and prion diseases. If you're eating meat, read this book. Even if you're not eating meat, read this book--today!

What a fascinating and highly readable book--when was the last time you raced through a non-fiction treatise?

Dr. Waldman and Ms. Lamb have written a winner, and I'm sorry to see it buried in the Amazon stacks without notice or acclaim. I don't even remember how I stumbled on this title but I'm glad I did. In the process of explaining how a hamburger may permanently alter your brain--for the worse--the authors take the reader through the history of cognition and aging as found in scientific textbooks, philosophy, and literature to prove that losing your marbles through the years is a new phenomenon.

Then they move on to cannibalism, horrific neurodegenerative diseases, the germ theory of disease, the biology of prions, the evolving nature of the human diet, the complex relationship of humans to cattle, the meat-packing industry, and international food standards.

Consider the elegance of their explanation of misfolded proteins (the biological basis of neurodegenerative diseases) as seen in the common egg white:

"Imagine a large bowl of raw egg whites. These whites are made of a protein called albumin, which is folded in a unique way.. Because of its shape, this protein is a translucent liquid and can be dissolved in water, Now place a tiny amount of the egg whites in boiling water, where it cooks immediately. The protein is still albumin, but now it is a solid instead of a liquid...there is no way that the cooked egg whites can be made to revert to their uncooked state. All these changes happen because the protein is now folded in a different manner."

Want to better understand how you might possibly cook your brains with a misguided modern diet and the inattention of those to whom we entrust our food supply? Order one of these bargain copies of "Dying for a Hamburger"--this book is great food for thought.

The main point of the book is the relationship between prion diseases such as Alzheimer's and the consumption of contaminated meat. But there are secondary points the book brings out that are also very important.
One is the lack of testing and other procedures within the meat and dairy industry to safeguard public health. Another is that this industry is dominated by a few, very large companies that control almost everything from slaughter to distribution. That this control is used to increase profits rather than help the public at large is a amply demonstrated.
While there is no need to stop eating meat and dairy products, to do so without being informed is likely to cause serious health problems for people due to the current state of the industry. This is one of a number of books on this subjsct that help give the information needed to avoid such problems.

The author's idea in this book is that countries that eat more beef have a higher rate of Alzheimer's Disease and thus there is likely a "mad cow" link. His star countries as examples were "Nigeria" and "India", that have "virtually no Alzheimer's." The only problem is his facts are not accurate: more like India has the same rate of Alzheimer's as the US and Nigeria has an even higher rate than the US.

This book has some interesting Alzheimer clinical facts and the same old rehashed Kuru and CJD stories. But "Brain Trust" was a more interesting attempt at a similar albeit also similarly weak argument -- so if you want to just read an Art Bell theory, go for "Brain Trust" over this book since it's more fun to read.

I find it annoying when authors use extremely weak circumstantial barely data to try to prove their argument, and here is yet another example.

Just do a little research and you will find that mad cow disease is a fairly well understood process, while Alzheimer's with its plaques and tangles is not a well understood process. Also look at how much money is being poured into Alzheimer's research -- if it was simply caused by mad cow prions, I think this would be known by now.