Why can't the human brain be eaten?

"All parts of the human body can be eaten, but one part should not be eaten, and that is the human brain" - This type of dialogue and scene in Pornojormo-3 was a bit confusing. It is disgusting to think that people will eat human flesh again. But specifically what is wrong with the human brain?

Cannibalism has been practiced in this world for ages. So the matter is not unknown or unfamiliar to anyone. In earlier days, many people used to eat their own bodies during funerals. Again, in some cases, the enemy's flesh was eaten so that their body's energy was stored in their own body. In Europe from the twelfth century to the eighteenth century, human bones, blood, and fat were sold in the market as medicine.

People of Papua New Guinea also had some such rituals - eating the body of relatives or close ones. But eating brain is not as safe as eating meat. Eating human brains causes rare diseases like Kuru. Epidemics of kuru occurred among people in Papua New Guinea, particularly among women. During the 1950s, this Kuru was mainly responsible for the deaths of women. Initially, 2% of total deaths were due to kuru. It mostly attacked women and children. There are some reasons for this gender disparity. First, the men of that area thought that eating human flesh would make them weak. So women and children used to eat dead bodies. Again, women used to wash and wipe the dead body, there is a chance of getting an infection from the wound.

Kuru—fatal transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), a rare brain degenerative disorder or prion disease. Another type is bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as "mad cow" disease. TSE primarily attacks the cerebellum of the human brain - the part that controls our body's senses and balance. Prion disease causes the accumulation of abnormal glycoproteins in the brain - called prion protein (PrP).

Prion proteins are naturally produced in the nervous system. Scientists still do not know the role of prion protein in our body functions. But it plays an important role in various diseases including Alzheimer's. Unlike other diseases, there is no virus or bacteria at work in Kuru, rather the manipulation of this prion is behind it. Prion proteins are non-living, inactive proteins that multiply in the brain and form clumps, disrupting normal brain processes. Creutzfeldt-Jakob and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease are other degenerative diseases caused by prion proteins. As seen in these spongiform diseases, sponge-like holes develop extensively in the brain.

Kuru has a long incubation period where symptoms do not appear. This asymptomatic period usually lasts 5-20 years, with some cases exceeding 50 years.

There are three stages in the manifestation of symptoms.

Ambulant stage:

1. headache

2. Joint pain

3. Kapuni

4. Imbalance

5. Decreased ability to speak

6. Lack of muscle control

Sedentary stage:

1. Unable to walk without support

2. Absence of muscle sensation

3. severe tremors

4. mental instability,

Terminal Stage:

1. Inability to speak

2. Inability to eat anything

3. Inability to react to the surrounding environment

4. Ulceration with pus, necrosis, and tissue death.

Usually, the affected person dies within 3 months to 2 years after the first terminal stage symptoms appear.

What is the treatment of Kuru?

The very good news is that there is no specific treatment for kuru. The prion responsible for tuberculosis cannot be easily destroyed. Prion-containing brain formaldehyde remains contagious even after years of storage.

There is no specific treatment for kuru. And governments of various countries have been discouraging this practice of cannibalism for a long time. Currently, there are no known cases of kuru. And according to researchers, the last patient of Kuru died in 2005.