News Story - Neurological Disease Tied to Eating Type of Bat

[Guest guest]

The story about the neurological disease tied to eating type of bat is

related to the disease Lytico Bodig which is a disease found almost entirely

on Guam and nowhere else. The report did not come through on the digest but

I would like to see how it is being reported outside Guam. There is some

degree of skepticism on Guam about the report although some aspects of it

ring true.

Peg and Jim from Guam

Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2002 18:57:15 PDT

Subject: Yahoo! News Story - Neurological Disease Tied to Eating Type of Bat

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*** Peg & Jim

*** # 29 Cruz Heights

*** Ipan-Talofofo, Guam 96930-4736

*** USA

***

*** Note: Guam is 15 hours ahead of

*** Eastern Standard Time (EST).

*** 14 ahead of EDT.

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[Guest guest]

Neurological Disease Tied to Eating Type of Bat

Mon Sep 2, 5:32 PM ET

By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study provides further evidence to support

the link between a neurological disease among the indigenous population on

the island of Guam and a cultural tradition of eating a type of bat.

In the 1940s, a neurological disease dubbed ALS-PDC mysteriously plagued the

Chamorro population of Guam, producing symptoms that resemble amyotrophic

lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease ( news - web sites) and

Parkinson's. People with ALS-PDC often exhibit signs of weakness, paralysis

and wasting, inevitably resulting in death.

The condition was once a leading cause of death among Chamorro adults,

occurring at rates 100 times the rate of ALS in the US. However, over time,

the incidence of ALS-PDC decreased among the Chamorro just as mysteriously

as it first appeared.

Recently, US researchers suggested that the changing prevalence of ALS-PDC

may be linked to a rise and fall in the population of the flying fox, a type

of bat considered a delicacy among the Chamorro people.

According to Drs. Alan of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens

in Kauai, Hawaii, and Oliver Sacks of the Albert Einstein College of

Medicine in New York, the flying fox consumes a lot of cycad seeds, which

contain toxins known to cause neurological disorders.

Although the Chamorro knew the cycad seeds to be toxic and may not have

snacked on them, and Sacks proposed that the toxins could accumulate in

the tissues of the flying fox, exposing the humans who consume them to

damaging amounts of the toxins.

This theory jibes with the changes in the concentration of flying foxes on

the island, which began to drop steadily in the 1940s due to their

popularity as a delicacy, until they became classified as endangered.

Recently, Dr. Banack of California State University in Fullerton

presented additional results linking the occurrence of ALS-PDC to the

consumption of flying foxes at a joint meeting of the Ecological Society of

America and the Society for Ecological Restoration in Tucson, Arizona.

Banack and her colleagues interviewed residents of two villages, asking them

how often they consumed flying foxes. According to their report, men said

they were more likely to eat the entire bat, while women often stuck with

only the breast meat. This finding may help explain the marked gender

differences in the incidence of ALS-PDC, which strikes men three times as

often as women.

The researchers also learned that because the Chamorro people believe that

eating the flying fox is so important, they are willing to risk fines or

imprisonment to obtain the animals--imposed because the species is now

considered rare.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Banack said that even though eating the

bats is a deep-rooted tradition within Chamorro culture, traditions can

change.

" ALS-PDC is a devastating disease, " she said. " Some people are bound to hear

the message and be willing to change their habits to protect their health. "

Banack added that people should always use caution when eating bush meat.

" Free-ranging animals--those that feed on wild plants in the

environment--are eating a whole host of plant phytotoxins. Plants produce

these toxins as a defense mechanism to stop animals from eating them, " she

said.

" We control the diet of domesticated animals and do not feed them foods high

in toxins. When people eat bush meat they are eating the toxins consumed by

that animal, " Banack noted.