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Did you know that some forms of the major health afflictions listed below are basically contagious or infectious, and can be ‘caught’ or incurred about as easily as the common cold under certain circumstances?

Insanity
Brain damage
Blindness
Cancer

Multiple Sclerosis
Diabetes
Heart disease
Mad Cow Disease

Strokes
Alzheimer's Disease
Arthritis

Crohn's Disease
Asthma
Impotence
Obesity

It’s true. Here’s just a sampling of references regarding such things.

Read and grow anxious about how the combination of lax regulation on corporations, and the lack of universal low cost healthcare in America allows 99% of us (insured and uninsured alike) to be casually injured and killed to fill the coffers of the top one percent of the population:

"...health workers have linked influenza to 39 cases of brain damage, or encephalopathy..."

-- Spray Flu Vaccine Is Little Used, Even With Shots Scarce By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN; February 25, 2004; nytimes.com

Evidence is mounting that at least some forms of schizophrenia can be caused in whole or in part by viruses.

-- Hopkins researcher finds retroviral 'footprint' in brains of people with schizophrenia; EurekAlert!; 9 APRIL 2001; US Contact: David Bricker dbricker@jhmi.edu 410-223-1728; http://www.stanleylab.org

-- Virus in DNA 'is cause of mental illness' BY MARK HENDERSON; Times Newspapers Ltd.; APRIL 10 2001

The Borna virus looks to have a connection to human depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, and schizophrenia. It can kill sheep and horses via brain disease.

-- Animal Virus May Contribute to Mental Illness By Stephen Pincock; Reuters Health/Yahoo! Health Headlines; January 9, 2002

-- Insanity virus -- a crazy idea - Mainstream psychiatric outcast ponders parasitic mental illness by Keay Davidson; San Francisco Chronicle; August 5, 2002, and Virus behind insanity, authors suggest By KEAY DAVIDSON; SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE; August 6, 2002

Cold sore virus may contribute to cognitive and brain abnormalities in schizophrenia 28-May-2010; Contact: Christen Brownlee cbrownlee@jhmi.edu 410-955-7832 Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

Tourette's syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder may develop in cases where children endure repeated infections of a particular kind of strep, and go untreated.

-- Strep a Linked to Psychiatric Disorders in Kids By Anne Harding; Reuters Health/Yahoo! Health Headlines; December 19, 2001

-- Obsessed by a Bug? In Study, Bizarre Child Behaviors Possibly Linked to Strep Infection Respond to Antibiotics By Miriam E. Tucker; The Washington Post; June 18, 2002; Page HE01

-- Virus causes mental illness symptoms in mice by Emily Singer; New Scientist; 07 July 03

-- Yahoo! News - Common Bacteria Linked to Alzheimer's Disease; story.news.yahoo.com

But that's not all. There's mounting evidence that far more of humanity's ills are spawned by infectious agents than ever imagined in previous decades.

It appears the bacteria Salmonella, most known as a cause of food poisoning, may also cause a bout of arthritis in 10% of victims, which lasts for weeks. A smaller percentage of people suffer long term arthritis from such encounters. The method by which this occurs appears to be applicable to other auto-immune afflictions as well.

-- Study Finds Evidence Food Bug Can Cause Arthritis, Reuters/Yahoo! Science Headlines, February 1, 2000

Evidence is mounting that infectious diseases may contribute to cardio-vascular problems, including diseases of the system. Chlamydia pneumonia bacteria and the herpes variant cytomegalovirus (CMV) are but two such agents.

-- More Evidence That Infections Cause Heart Disease By Maggie Fox, Reuters/Yahoo! Science Headlines, September 18, 2000

All sorts of common bacterial infections, from urinary to gum disease, may contribute to later heart-related illnesses/conditions.

-- Infections Linked to Clogged Arteries By Merritt McKinney, February 26, 2001, Yahoo!/Reuters Health; Circulation 2001;103:1064-1070 is cited in the article

Note that being burdened with one affliction possibly stemming from infection can lead to still others by different means.

-- Cardiovascular disease leads to higher risk of dementia, Eurekalert!; 9-May-2002; Contact: Frank Raczkiewicz; 412-624-2607; University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

-- Ulcer bacteria linked to strokes, Eurekalert!; 8-Jul-2002; Contact: Bridgette Mc Neill; bridgette.mcneill@heart.org; 214-706-1135; American Heart Association

-- Exposure to several common infections over time may be associated with risk of stroke 9-Nov-2009 Contact: Karin Eskenazi ket2116@columbia.edu 212-305-3900

-- Common virus may contribute to uncommon bone disease in children; 8-Mar-2004; eurekalert.org; Contact: Joey Marie McCool McCool@email.chop.edu 267-426-6070 Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia

"Uveitis can have many different causes including viral infections, fungal infections,...bacterial infections,...and as a result of eye injuries."

-- Potentially blinding eye disease more prevalent than previously thought; 1-Mar-2004; eurekalert.org; Contact: Media Relations media@aao.org 415-561-8534 American Academy of Ophthalmology

There's 200 different known forms of cancer. Viral infections appear to trigger almost 20% of these.

-- Scientists Seek Cancer Clues in Cold Virus By Patricia Reaney, Yahoo!/Reuters, February 20, 2001

-- Scientists identify how virus triggers cervical and mouth cancer14-Dec-2010; Contact: Aeron Haworth aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk 44-161-275-8383 University of Manchester

-- Scientists decode secrets of a very common virus that can cause cancer15-Dec-2010; Contact: Mary Jane Gore mary.gore@duke.edu 919-660-1309 Duke University Medical Center

A new infectious threat to human beings, in addition to the bacterial and viral agents known before, is now being officially recognized: prions. These things are responsible for afflictions such as Mad Cow Disease, and likely various cancers and other brain-related problems.

-- Predictions for the new millennium By LANCE GAY, October 25, 1999, Nando Media/Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.nandotimes.com

-- Airborne Pathogens Can Induce Mad Cow Disease, New Findings Suggest ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2011)

Under some circumstances it appears the act of suicide itself can be infectious, and spread alarmingly through a given population.

-- Alaska health officials worried about rash of suicides By MARTHA BELLISLE and S.J. KOMARNITSKY; Anchorage Daily News; Nando Media/Scripps Howard News Service; March 16, 2001

Some viruses (such as certain herpes variants) apparently can cause certain types of cancer.

-- Cancer-Causing Virus Spares Healthy Individuals By Will Boggs; Yahoo!/Reuters Health; April 9, 2001

It appears leukaemia may be spread among humans by an infectious agent of some sort, probably a virus. It also seems many people harbor the virus, but it only causes leukaemia in a portion of same.

It had been known for some time that a virus could spread leukaemia amongst cattle and felines. Viruses are also often responsible for human cases of stomach, liver, and cervical cancer.

-- Deadly import by Emma Young; New Scientist Online News; 16 March 2001; The Lancet (vol 357, p 858)

-- Researchers discover how leukaemia virus spreads through the body; EurekAlert!; 13-Feb-2003; Contact: Tony Stephenson; at.stephenson@imperial.ac.uk; 44-20-7594-6712; Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine

-- Virus makes cervical cancer risk soar by Gaia Vince; New Scientist; 29 July 02

Some believe infectious agents could be related to many ailments today which are commonly attributed to old age, lifestyle, or genes instead, such as Alzheimer's and atherosclerosis.

-- Scientific American: Feature Article: A Host with Infectious Ideas By Steve Mirsky: May 2001

At least one contagion looks like it can make men shoot blanks (in terms of sperm). It may also help cause miscarriages in women.

-- Common virus linked to male infertility by Emma Young; 26 October 01; New Scientist; newscientist.com; Human Reproduction (vol 16, p 2333)

Exposure to the Epstein-Barr virus (mononucleosis) appears to relate to the later contraction of multiple sclerosis, as well as possibly other types of nerve ailments and some cancers. As much as 95% of adults in the US of age 40 or older may have been infected by Epstein-Barr.

-- Mono virus may be linked to multiple sclerosis, study suggests By LINDSEY TANNER; Associated Press/Nando Media/Nando Times; December 25, 2001

-- Antibiotic May Be A Potential Therapy For Multiple Sclerosis ; ScienceDaily Magazine; sciencedaily.com; 12/21/2001; University Of Wisconsin-Madison (http://www.wisc.edu/)

It appears that the more infectious agents you're exposed to, the higher your risk of developing heart disease.

-- Infection cited as a direct link to artery thickening; 7-Jan-2002; Contact: Carole Bullock; carole.bullock@heart.org; 214-706-1279; American Heart Association

-- Repeated infections may raise risk of heart disease, study says By LEE BOWMAN, Scripps Howard News Service/Nando Media/Nando Times; January 7, 2002

-- Virus in babies may cause asthma later on; EurekAlert; 10-Jul-2002; Contact: Gila Reckess; reckessg@msnotes.wustl.edu; 314-286-0109; Washington University School of Medicine

-- Bacteria to blame in asthma attacks in children2010-10-07

-- Protecting babies from RSV could reduce the chances of wheeze and asthma during childhood; EurekAlert; 18-Nov-2002; Contact: Tony Stephenson; at.stephenson@ic.ac.uk; 44-207-594-6712; Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine

-- Influenza infection attracts pneumonia bacteria EurekAlert!; 22-May-2002; Contact: Jim Sliwa; jsliwa@asmusa.org; 202-942-9297; American Society for Microbiology

-- BACTERIA MAY CAUSE CROHN'S DISEASE Tips from the Journals of the American Society for Microbiology EurekAlert!; 17-Jul-2003; Contact: Jim Sliwa; jsliwa@asmusa.org; 202-942-9297; American Society for Microbiology

-- Diabetes clusters suggest infectious cause July 2006

-- Type 1 Diabetes Linked to Viruses By Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today; February 04, 2011

It appears that certain ingredients in cigarette smoke may be the cause of obesity and diabetes in a portion of the population.

-- Chemicals in cigarettes may cause diabetes 2011-01-14 Reuters

-- Air pollution appears to foster diabetes Findings confirm previously published animal data By Janet Raloff; October 4th, 2010

-- Ozone might choke our arteries as well as our cities 12 June 2006 Magazine issue 2555

-- Virus linked to both chronic fatigue syndrome and prostate cancer October 8, 2009 2:00 PM, by Ed Yong

-- Obesity in children linked to common cold virus Adenovirus-36 may be making kids heavier, new study suggestsBy Tina Hesman Saey 9-20-10

-- Polluted Air Increases Obesity Risk In Young Animals Written by Emily Caldwell, (614) 292-8310; caldwell.151@osu.edu 12/2/10 Contact: Qinghua Sun, (614) 247-1560; sun.224@osu.edu

-- Purdue University Scientist shows link between diet and onset of mental illness13-Dec-2010; Contact: Brian Wallheimer bwallhei@purdue.edu 765-496-2050

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