Could heart disease actually be contagious?

[Charles]

Here is a quote from Voet "Fundamentals of Biochemistry" 5th Edition p.1037 that is much more to the point concerning "RNA genes":

"A Significant Portion of the Genome is Transcribed to RNA. Although the proportion of exonic DNA is relatively small (about 1.4%), as much as 80% of the genome may be transcribed. This mass of RNA includes the products of about 4000 identified genes for tRNAs, rRNA's, and many other small RNAs, as well as tens of thousands of other noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), many of which have no known function. Some are polyadenated, as are mRNAs (Section 26-3A), but do not correspond to any known genes. One possibility is this RNA represents transcriptional noise arising from promoter-like elements scattered throughout the genome. However, the observation that some ncRNAs exhibit conservation between species and tissue specific splice variants suggests that such RNAs have regulatory function."

Note of explanation: Transcription always results in the production of RNA, so a large portion of our DNA creates a large amount of RNA on a regular basis. I believe this indicates a malfunctioning genome that is attempting to function, because much of this RNA is useless.

To further emphasize, I maintain that this transcription mentioned above represents the attempt of a severely damaged genome to function, and indeed it does to some degree, otherwise we would be dead. This damage was caused by a genetic poison. The genome Voet and these researcher are describing is not the result random chance that occurred over billions of years but the result of ingestion of a poison.

[1KW]

I dont think Heart disease is contagious

[1KW]

I recently attended a online symposium for NASA on the microbiome. They are just starting to look at phenotype expression as it relates to the microbiome but nowhere did they say that disease such as heart disease is contagious

[Charles]

Originally Posted by 1KW

I recently attended a online symposium for NASA on the microbiome. They are just starting to look at phenotype expression as it relates to the microbiome but nowhere did they say that disease such as heart disease is contagious

NASA is one of the most prominent of the Queens servants. NASA is on the Queens right hand and sits right next to the Queen.

NASA is sending another probe to Mars. The Queen is very pleased. The human body is ill equipped to travel 2 years in space. Total waste of time and money but NASA has mouths to feed.

What is the point of sending a human to Mars? Why is NASA even talking about the "microbiome"? If you want to know about the "microbiome" (whatever it is) ask a Gastroenterologist. The concept of a microbiome is erroneous and speculative. It's a fancy word signifying nothing but it sure sounds good.

[Charles]

What are two organisms/microbes that you don't want as a part of your "microbiome"? Does anybody know? I wonder if anybody in that NASA symposium would know? Now this answer is easy. It's like knowing the determinants of cardiac output (Q). If you don't know these types of things immediately, it shows you never went to med school or if you did, you made really poor grades. I was not one of them. I graduated at the top of my class. I knew way more than what was required and continued my research. But I chose clinical medicine as opposed to research. Most medical research is useless unless it is clinical trials. I know physicians that are doing us a tremendous favor by the research they are conducting (glaucoma for instance) but it is far removed from the level of this discussion.

I could easily make an argument that heart disease is contagious, in a tangential sort of way. I will do so soon if the discussion continues on.

[Charles]

I have a dear friend who has a deep knowledge of the ancient languages. We converse all the time. My glass is always half full. His half empty. He has Ph.D's from UCLA in the ancient languages, Hebrew, Greek, Latin. I asked him one time about his grades. He said he didn't know, because grades and awards were not relevant to him. My med school class was unusual. We had no Valedictorian or speech. I won the award in Infectious Disease and Psychiatry. I enjoyed Psychiatry greatly. There is a great need to help folks with mental illness. I never kept my awards. I drank my bottle of wine. I didn't care about my grades. They meant nothing to me.

I met first Tom Brittingham after announcing I was attending the Vanderbilit Internal Residency program. I was over an hour late for my interview. He was not happy to say the least. I had presumed my acceptance and he had found out about it. I know he was determined to flunk me. I had a good friend who had already been accepted and he told Dr. Brittingham about me, that I was a good guy. I had that going for me.

After my explanation that I had gotten lost which was the truth, the interview immediately got serious. "Dr. Ruark, he said, Can you give me the three determinants of infection?" Now what he didn't know was that I had won the ID award and had scored 99.9 percentile in ID from med schools all across the country. Without batting an eye I said, "the virulence of the organism, the size of the inoculation, and the resistance of the host." He was stunned. He loved ID as much as I did. We immediately became bosom buddies. The rest of the day was a breeze. If I hadn't given that specific answer, my life would have been vastly different. I would have never met my wife, a brilliant Ophthalmologist, in her own right, and would probably be dead. I don't think I've ever told this story.

[Charles]

Here are the organisms that you don't want in your microbiome (however you define it):

MRSA (methicillin resistant staph aureus). Very difficult if not impossible to eradicate once it gets a solid foothold on the skin. From then on every "pimple" can turn into a life threatening infection. I have lanced at least 500 MRSA boils. MRSA boils typically have very little pus. One of the common mistakes that lazy physicians make is not to lance and pack MRSA boils because they contain little to no pus. MRSA does not respond well to common antibiotics despite the fact that the orgnism shows a sensitivity to the antibiotic. Treatment for MRSA boil is lancing and packing. MRSA is highly contagious and can be passed easily from person to person. It can easily cause a disseminated fatal infection.

C. difficile. Very difficult to treat can reoccur and cause a rare but often (40%-50%) fatal complication of toxic megacolon. It is contagious and often contracted in hospitals.

Heliobacter pylori. Associated with ulcers.

Acne Vulgaris. Associated with acne.

Herpes Simplex. Causes a myriad of diseases many of which are very serious.

The list of pathogens that can become part of the biological mass that inhabits your body is extensive. Perhaps one should first know about these pathogens and how to avoid them before concentrating of a vague nebulous concept of "microbiome".

The more stress the body is put under, the more likely it is to develop all sorts of diseases, including heart disease. "Heart disease" is about as nebulous a "disease" as I can think of. The list of heart diseases is myriad.

Be careful when you enter any hospital. It can be full of organisms you definitely do not want to become a part of your microbiome. Once you get them they can be next to impossible to eradicate.

[1KW]

For anyone who is interested this is a good article on the microbiome and why we think its important. At this time the microbiome is being to studied to modify for prevention and treatment of certain diseases, stay tuned its not quite there yet.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutriti...ce/microbiome/

[Charles]

1KW, good article. Allergies of all kinds are very important. Air quality quite important. Many diseases are caused by viruses including cancer.

Why is NASA concerned with this concept? Could it be how the environment of space affects the body? Space medicine is a topic I think very little about. But if you are an astronaut or a family member or a friend I can see how it would be very important.

One of the real problems with Mars is cosmic rays. Shielding astronauts from them will be very difficult. The Martian environment is extremely harsh and there is no magnetic field. Landing on Mars will be next to impossible because Mars has almost no atmosphere.

Cosmic rays are like bullets and can damage our severely damage our DNA.

I have a whole file of the program "How the Universe Works". Very interesting useful information. NASA says if you have an energy source, water, and the necessary organics, the possibility of Life is present. I disagree. You also need a code. All of Life is based on a code, the DNA Code. A code is the systematic standardized use of a given set of symbols used to represent information. Does NASA believe they will discover a code on Mars? Although there are minor variations of the Mitochondrial Code in single cell organisms, the variation is minimal and it is essentially the same code, employing 64 codons that are triplets of A, G, C, T/U. In all organisms other than some single cell organisms, the Code is universal and even in these organisms the variations are irrelevant.

The chances of a similar type Code employing 64 codons using triplet nucleotides of the 4 DNA bases developing on Mars is zero. The probability is zero. Without a code, there can be no Life. There can be no debate that Life as we know it requires a code. NASA seems oblivious to this fact.

[Charles]

Much of science has become about putting bread on the table of their families. I understand that. I maintain that it is impossible for a code to exist by random chance. Take the simple stoplight code: red = stop; yellow = caution; green = go.

The words are the information. The symbols are the colors. The number of symbols that can be used to represent the words "stop", "go", and "caution" is infinite. It takes intelligence to create a code. It cannot occur by random chance because the set of symbols is an infinite set.

No one argues that the DNA Code does not qualify in all respects as a code.

Science has become irrational. It believed a traditional Big Bang (universe arose from an infinitely small and dense point of extremely high entropy) before it became clear that the universe is infinite. An infinite universe forbids the traditional Big Bang.

97% of galaxies in the observable universe are speeding away from us are speeds far exceeding the speed of light. Physicists have informed us that since galaxies are "embedded" in space and that space itself is expanding, they can do this. I guess you and I are not "embedded" in space in the same way a galaxy is. So a galaxy can violate the laws of physics but you and I cannot. Physicists say that "space" can do what it wants, so it can expand at an infinite speed, if it can do whatever it wants and is infinite. What kind of reasoning or law is that? That's a cop out if ever there was one.

Galaxies should be flying apart because their rotational energy is greater than their gravity. No one debates that. But they don't. So physics invokes "dark matter" to explain this fact. No one can prove dark matter even exists much less its physical nature.

Physics should be honest and admit that galaxies violate their laws or should I say transcend their laws, just as Life transcends the second law. Physics should admit that the Universe exhibits miraculous properties that transcend their sacred laws and that their math will never be remotely adequate to describe the Universe.

In "Secrets of Time Travel" at the very end with the credits Michelle Thaller states: "Using the analogy of Alice in Wonderland the Universe continues to lead us further down the rabbit hole".

Science understands nothing fundamental about the Universe. My faith in science and medicine as I have grown older has become negligible. I have become extremely disillusioned.

I believe a significant amount of science and medicine (certainly not all) is a waste of time and especially money. It has become big business. Now as a physician, I do not mean to imply that you should not go to your doctor. I strongly recommend that if you get sick you take all the treatments your doctor recommends. In addition, that you follow his or her advice concerning diet, testing, medications, exercise, schedule of checkups, etc.