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[baslug]

what i love about dating a medical student, #28:

when she falls asleep on the couch from studying and you go to give her a pillow and blanket, then she wakes up to say "i'm sorry for giving you a prion disease."

Comments

[morgaine]

HAH! That made me laugh out loud. So funny!

[baslug]

yeah, i thought it was absolutely hilarious. prion diseases is what she was studying when she fell asleep.

[fastguy450]

What the hell is prion disease?

[baslug]

mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is an example of a prion disease.

there's not much known about prion diseases except that the infectious agent is the abnormal form of a protein which naturally occurs in cell surfaces (we don't know what the function of the normal protein is) and that it leaves the brain mushy - hence the name 'spongiform encephalopathy' (spongiform = sponge-like; encephalopathy = brain disease). it's really quite bizarre that the infectious agent is just a misshaped protein instead of a virus. most mammals are susceptible to prion diseases and it's passed on either through inheritance or diet (don't eat brains of infected people).

...and knowing is half the battle.

note to all

[wickthorn]

don't eat my brain as i am at risk of mad cow. explains a lot about my mushy brain and all. even blood drives won't touch my plasma. and if you fuck with me, i'll give it to you too