Sunday, April 17, 2005
the more it changes -and allegedly evolves- the more it stays the same...
We are in the 21st Century - and there is still such a thing as HUNGER in the world. Christ did say that we would always have the poor with us... but, really now - the true reason that we let the hungry hunger is so that the fragile economical system we've built ourselves does not crumble - likely as it should.
The 21st Century - and CNN reported that there were THOUSANDS of cases of LEPROSY in the UNITED STATES...!!!
The 21st Century - and we are still at the mercy of pandemics ; shaking in our collective booties at the thought of an outbreak that would not be containable (mainly because the medical personnel nowadays is not ready to contain it...!!!).
This despite the wondrous accomplishments of science - which, recently, even linked the medieval plague to AIDS - but in a good way, somehow...! It appears that the Black Death and other great plagues in the Middle-Ages apparently caused a genetic mutation in the european populace which now has resulted in making 10% of Europeans far more resistant to HIV infection... which, in turn, explains the non-fear of Aids in many European countries and the subsequent resulting debauchery...! You gotta take the good with the bad I guess... *lol*
Wondrous discovery - made in the UK - but one that only explains a pattern of wild behaviourial depravity that still doesn't make sense, in the face of AIDS... and one that only shows how much dumb luck Humanity has had over the centuries - for it sure wasn't any human accomplishment that triggered this resistance to HIV...!
In the end though, resistance is not immunity (the French know all about that - in many, many ways too...) and AIDS is still the Great Plague of TODAY... until a surprise ebola-like one hits that is!
The 21st Century - and CNN reported that there were THOUSANDS of cases of LEPROSY in the UNITED STATES...!!!
The 21st Century - and we are still at the mercy of pandemics ; shaking in our collective booties at the thought of an outbreak that would not be containable (mainly because the medical personnel nowadays is not ready to contain it...!!!).
This despite the wondrous accomplishments of science - which, recently, even linked the medieval plague to AIDS - but in a good way, somehow...! It appears that the Black Death and other great plagues in the Middle-Ages apparently caused a genetic mutation in the european populace which now has resulted in making 10% of Europeans far more resistant to HIV infection... which, in turn, explains the non-fear of Aids in many European countries and the subsequent resulting debauchery...! You gotta take the good with the bad I guess... *lol*
Wondrous discovery - made in the UK - but one that only explains a pattern of wild behaviourial depravity that still doesn't make sense, in the face of AIDS... and one that only shows how much dumb luck Humanity has had over the centuries - for it sure wasn't any human accomplishment that triggered this resistance to HIV...!
In the end though, resistance is not immunity (the French know all about that - in many, many ways too...) and AIDS is still the Great Plague of TODAY... until a surprise ebola-like one hits that is!
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Medieval Plague May Explain Resistance to HIV Thu Mar 10, 2:23 PM ET Health - Reuters
LONDON (Agence de Presse Medicale) - The persistent epidemics of hemorrhagic fever that struck Europe during the Middle Ages provided the selection pressures that have made 10 percent of Europeans resistant to HIV infection, according to a UK study.
A mutation called delta-32 in the cellular receptor dubbed CCR5 protects against HIV infection, and is found more often in Europeans than other populations.
Scientists have previously suggested that the genetic mutation became common because it protected people against the Black Death or smallpox epidemics, while those with normal CCR5 were wiped out.
But researchers at the University of Liverpool in England said computer modeling, based on the changing demographics of Europe from 1000 to 1800 AD, showed how hemorrhagic fever forced up the frequency of this mutation from 1 in 20,000 at the time of the Black Death to values today of 1 in 10.
The researchers note in the Journal of Medical Genetics that lethal, viral hemorrhagic fevers were recorded in the Nile valley from 1500 BC and were followed by the plagues of Mesopotamia (700-450 BC), the plague of Athens (430 BC), the plague of Justinian (AD 541-700) and the plagues of the early Islamic empire (AD 627-744).
The European plagues from 1347 to 1665 were also a continuing series of hemorrhagic infections caused by a virus that used the CCR5 as an entry port into the immune system, the researchers explain.
Although plague passed its peak after the Great Plague of London in 1665, the researchers said it did not disappear completely.
Professor Christopher Duncan, from the University's School of Biological Sciences, added: "Hemorrhagic plague did not disappear after the Great Plague of London in 1665-66 but continued in Sweden, Copenhagen, Russia, Poland and Hungary until 1800.
"This maintenance of hemorrhagic plague provided continuing selection pressure on the mutation and explains why it (the CCR5-delta-32 mutation) occurs today at its highest frequency in Scandinavia and Russia."
SOURCE: Journal of Medical Genetics, March 2005.
LONDON (Agence de Presse Medicale) - The persistent epidemics of hemorrhagic fever that struck Europe during the Middle Ages provided the selection pressures that have made 10 percent of Europeans resistant to HIV infection, according to a UK study.
A mutation called delta-32 in the cellular receptor dubbed CCR5 protects against HIV infection, and is found more often in Europeans than other populations.
Scientists have previously suggested that the genetic mutation became common because it protected people against the Black Death or smallpox epidemics, while those with normal CCR5 were wiped out.
But researchers at the University of Liverpool in England said computer modeling, based on the changing demographics of Europe from 1000 to 1800 AD, showed how hemorrhagic fever forced up the frequency of this mutation from 1 in 20,000 at the time of the Black Death to values today of 1 in 10.
The researchers note in the Journal of Medical Genetics that lethal, viral hemorrhagic fevers were recorded in the Nile valley from 1500 BC and were followed by the plagues of Mesopotamia (700-450 BC), the plague of Athens (430 BC), the plague of Justinian (AD 541-700) and the plagues of the early Islamic empire (AD 627-744).
The European plagues from 1347 to 1665 were also a continuing series of hemorrhagic infections caused by a virus that used the CCR5 as an entry port into the immune system, the researchers explain.
Although plague passed its peak after the Great Plague of London in 1665, the researchers said it did not disappear completely.
Professor Christopher Duncan, from the University's School of Biological Sciences, added: "Hemorrhagic plague did not disappear after the Great Plague of London in 1665-66 but continued in Sweden, Copenhagen, Russia, Poland and Hungary until 1800.
"This maintenance of hemorrhagic plague provided continuing selection pressure on the mutation and explains why it (the CCR5-delta-32 mutation) occurs today at its highest frequency in Scandinavia and Russia."
SOURCE: Journal of Medical Genetics, March 2005.
Luciano,
WoW, that is a lot of good info!
Thanks so much for sharing that with us bloggers!
I am just going to comment on one of the things you talked about. It will not be directly about what you posted, but about the same subject.
I wanted to give a Warning and some advice to anyone out there who reads this blog!
AIDS and HIV
Get tested for HIV and have your partner do the same before ever having sex the first time!
Be safe! Just using a condom is not safty from HIV or AIDS. A condom can always break! The spermicide use in some things will only kill the sperm NOT HIV or AIDS!
Someone can have HIV for 10 years maybe more, and it not show up on a test! So even getting tested is not always a guarentee that your parter does not have HIV.
I was tested 13 years ago and was negitive. I have not been with anyone since, so I think that if I did have HIV it would have shown up before now. I will still be tested again, just to be safe before I am with anyone again.
I hope all of you will do the same and be smart! Once you have HIV there is no turning back!
Countess
Post a Comment
WoW, that is a lot of good info!
Thanks so much for sharing that with us bloggers!
I am just going to comment on one of the things you talked about. It will not be directly about what you posted, but about the same subject.
I wanted to give a Warning and some advice to anyone out there who reads this blog!
AIDS and HIV
Get tested for HIV and have your partner do the same before ever having sex the first time!
Be safe! Just using a condom is not safty from HIV or AIDS. A condom can always break! The spermicide use in some things will only kill the sperm NOT HIV or AIDS!
Someone can have HIV for 10 years maybe more, and it not show up on a test! So even getting tested is not always a guarentee that your parter does not have HIV.
I was tested 13 years ago and was negitive. I have not been with anyone since, so I think that if I did have HIV it would have shown up before now. I will still be tested again, just to be safe before I am with anyone again.
I hope all of you will do the same and be smart! Once you have HIV there is no turning back!
Countess
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