Post #6- Social Patterns of Transmission

Social Patterns of Transmission

        One of the primary factors that facilitate the transmission of this disease is the culture of the Fore people.  Because they believe in the consumption of their dead to preserve their kinship, they contract they virus when they eat the brains of their relatives.  Women were primarily the participators of these rituals, and as a result they fed their children and elderly the same.  To the Fore people, this was the proper way to deal with their dead.  This was a widely accepted practice in New Guinea, and this lead to the transmission of the Kuru Disease.  

Here, a doctor examines a young Kuru patient.

Bindon. Home Page.  Kuru: The Dynamics of a Prion Disease. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

Post # 3- Disease Basics

Diseases Basics

My group and I will be studying Kuru Disease a disease that takes place among the indigenous Fore people of New Guinea.  It is caused by a mutated protein called a prion that clump together and destroy brain tissue.  Kuru can be transmitted through consumption of brain tissue and through contact with open wounds.  According to the National Institute Neurological Disorders and Stroke ( NINDS), the prognosis is terminal and deadly “Because Kuru mainly affected the cerebellum, which is responsible for coordination, the usual first symptoms were an unsteady gait, tremors, and slurred speech….Eventually, individuals became unable to stand or eat, and they died in a comatose state from 6 to 12 months after the first appearance of symptoms.” (NINDS).



            



Office of Communications and Public Liaison. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. NINDS, 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

Post #2- Forces of Biological Evolution

Forces of Biological Evolution

Biological evolution is nature’s way of evolving a species through natural selection.  Most genetic mutations are products of a change in DNA, these changes can prove to be either beneficial or detrimental to the development of that species.  Whether or not this specie survives will determine if that species will continue to grow in population and thrive in its environment.  Disease is also another way that natural selection can benefit a species in the long run.

Post #1-Anthropological Perspective

Anthropological Perspective

Anthropology is the study of humans from past and present.  It uses archaeology, biology, cultural and linguistic to understand how humans act and why they act that way.  Anthropology is useful in understanding disease because it uses all of these perspectives to get a broader scope of the how this disease affected others. Instead of just focusing on the biological, it takes a more holistic view in understand how this disease shaped a society, or what cultural importance is placed on it.

“What is Anthropology?” American Anthropological  Association. World Council of Anthropological Association, 2013.Web. 25 Oct. 2013.

Post # 5- Historical Geography of Disease

Historical Geography of Disease

Kuru origninated in New Guinia among the Fore people.  It reached near epidemic levels in the 1950's and 60's, but has greatly decreased since government involvement.  Kuru is a TSE (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy’s) or prion diseases. These diseases are special because they contain the misshapen prion protein that collects and builds in the brain tissue (NINDS).  It has mostly stayed among the Fore people because it is transmitted through cannibalism.  The Fore people used to practice cannibalism on their dead relatives as a way to help them move on to the afterlife.  Kuru is “moved” from body to body by the consumption of human flesh.

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Alpers. PubMedU.S. National Library of Medicine. A History of Kuru.Maryland: National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2007. Web. 25 Oct. 2013

Post #4- Biological Evolutionary History of HIV

Biological Evolutionary History of HIV

  Scientists believe that HIV is a mutation of the SIV virus that came from the Chimpanzee’s hunted by humans in Africa.  Once the humans came into contact with the infected blood it then mutated into the HIV virus.  The acronym HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.  The acronym AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.  Although there are two types of HIV, generally in the United States HIV-1 is the most common.  The HIV virus gradually destroys the immune system by attaching itself to the T cells which help the body fight off diseases.  It can be contracted through unprotected sex with a carrier of the virus, the sharing of needles during the use of illegal drugs, or being born of a mother with HIV.  This virus is a buffer that prevents the body’s immune system from doing it’s job. This puts the carrier of the virus at risk for catching diseases that they would otherwise not fall victim too.