Dying for a Hamburger : The Alarming Link Between the Meat Industry and Alzheimer's Disease

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!

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.

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 heard an interview with one of the authors, Dr. Murray Waldman, and ordered this book immediately. Dr. Waldman's father died of Alzheimer's. I lost a beloved mother to Alzheimer's. I have a powerful interest in understanding this disease and whether children and grandchildren of someone with AD -- and so on down the family line -- might someday develop this terrible ailment.Dr. Waldman has been the chief of an emergency department, the chief of staff of a rehabilitation hospital, and a coroner in Toronto.In this book, Waldman and Lamb examine the history and pattern of Alzheimer's. They are historical, medical, sleuths.The bottom line is that they believe Alzheimer's is a type of prion disease, like mad cow disease (BSE) and Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (CJD). They discuss the modern methods of meat processing, and why modern methods increase risks to consumers, compared to the old-fashioned methods used generations ago. Specifically, they point to hamburger as a problem area, because hamburger meat may include parts of many cows. This increases the risk of exposure to BSE, and hence, in Waldman's and Lamb's point of view, to AD as well as CJD.This book is very well-written. While it addresses medical issues, it is written in a way that is accessible to readers who don't have a medical degree.If you are a vegetarian or a vegan: read this book.If you have a family member who has Alzheimer's: read this book.