Medical arguments against cannibalism

[Cyphermage]

I can't find a link, or remember the specifics, but wasn't there a tribe in Africa or South America somewhere that had a problem with degenerative nerve diseases due to cannibalism?

I apologise if someone already posted this, but I seem to remember seeing that on the National Geographic channel a while back, but I can't find anything on it now.

The South Fore in New Guinea were afflicted with Kuru through ritual cannibalism practiced on dead members of the tribe. People who died of Kuru were considered particularly tasty. A little education got them to abandon this practice, and they no longer suffer from the disease.

 

[Dogdoctor]

Thanks Corgi. That seems like a strong argument against cannibalism medically, eh?

Or did they not cook the meat?

Prion diseases are spread by consuming nervous tissues. Even cooked they may be transmitted hence the mad cow disease scare. The persistence of Kuru was due to lack of understanding of the transmission of the disease. We could safely deal with this problem today. Most of the transmission came from ritual cannibalism on people who died from Kuru. We are currently armed with knowledge that will allow us to eat humans and not get sick yet we don't.

 

[slingblade]

Well, if I'm ever stranded high on an Andes mountain and half my teammates bought it in the crash, and no one knew where we were....I'd consider it.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Eat the healthy ones.

Wait a minute... heck, you know what I mean.

 

[Aurelian]

I feel like I know WAY too much about this, but feel much better about not EVER eating scrambled eggs and brains.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Yeah. Imagine being slowly scrambled. Very nasty.