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I had seen that program previously a couple of months ago. My thought was how great it was to be able to treat it so easily as the disease was from an “outside the body” source and not an internal problem.
Did anyone here happen to watch the Learning Channel last night and
their show on thyrotoxicosis (a/k/a hyperthyroidism?)This show was really alarming, I thought. I may NEVER eat hamburger
again. For those of you who didn’t see it, apparently they showed
an entire family (I believe it was in Minnesota, although there have
been documented cases where I live–Nebraska) who all had acute
symptoms of thyrotoxicosis, except for their one son who was a
vegetarian and NEVER ate beef. Anyway, it was discovered through
various ways that the beef which had been processed into ground
beef at IBP in Minnesota (and Nebraska) had been processed with
the cows’ thyroids attached–by accident. Inspections never caught the
error until so many people in these communities were having the same
thyrotoxic symptoms.Testing was done on a large group of participants after they had fasted for a period of time. Their thyroid hormone levels were checked before and after they ate some of the ground beef (cooked well done). Their previously LOW thyroid levels immediately shot up after eating the burgers. They re-did the tests and got the same results.
Obviously, the federal inspectors have since intervened and stopped
the thyroid processing and the ways cows are slaughtered. Now, supposedly, the cattle thyroids MUST be cut out and discarded prior to processing. (WE HOPE!)So, as an avid burger-eater, I have to wonder what I have done to myself after 40+ years of fast food!SCARY!
I didn’t see this program, but it’s probably referring to an outbreak
which occurred in 1985 in Sioux Falls/Valley Springs area near the
Minnesota line. For those of you who want to read about it, there is
an excellent article in THE NEW YORKER, July 1988, pp 70-78.
It describes in great detail how the problem was discovered, analyzed,
and what medical detective work went in to finding the source.
Verry Interesting!
As a result of this event, meat packing regulations were permanently
changed and we can hope are adequate preventive measures.
So hop off to your local library for a look at a really great article
and be assured that it was an isolated and non-recurring event.
Then go to BK.I just looked up the Learning Channel. The web page requests the
day of the month, in addition to the month. Since I don’t know when
you saw the program, I didn’t know when to look.Thanks for the information. That’s pretty interesting. Black market
on neck parts. Maybe some calf has a funtional one and I could swap mine
out??Susan
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