Butter Popcorn Chemical Linked To Alzheimer’s

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/08/10/butter-popcorn-chemical-linked-to-alzheimers/

NEW YORK (CBS NEWS) - An ingredient used in artificial butter flavoring for popcorn may worsen the effects of an abnormal brain protein that’s been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

I saw that headline earlier. All I can say is I do wish they'd find the cause and cure. That has to be one of the worst and heart-wrenching diseases. To watch a loved one slowly succumb to Alzheimer's/Dementia is horrible. Then to find something like popcorn plays a part is really mind blowing.



TIS

I also read that canned products can contribute to it . Something about the secretions or some shit . It's terrifying , I had 2 family member who ended up with Alzheimer's and it was ridiculously depressing watching them deteriorate

One of my cousins has had Alzheimer's that I'm aware of for about 6/7 years. When I was back in Michigan a few months ago, I saw her. The poor thing can't even speak now. She makes noises and thinks she's speaking or wants to speak. She was such a sweet lady and to see her deteriorate his heartbreaking.

I first heard of the disease in the early 80's when a co-worker's mother was afflicted with it. I was so saddened by how it destroys a person.

TIS

Wayne Watson Awarded $7.2 Million In 'Popcorn Lung' Lawsuit

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/wayne-watson-popcorn-lung-lawsuit_n_1898769.html

DENVER, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal court jury on Wednesday awarded a Colorado man $7.2 million in damages for developing a chronic condition known as popcorn lung from a chemical used in flavoring microwave popcorn.

Jurors agreed with the claims by Wayne Watson, 59, that the popcorn manufacturer and the supermarket chain that sold it were negligent by failing to warn on labels that the butter flavoring, diacetyl, was dangerous.

The condition is a form of obstructive lung disease that makes it difficult for air to flow out of the lungs and is irreversible, according to WebMd.

Watson, of suburban Denver, was the first consumer of microwave popcorn diagnosed with the disease, bronchiolitis obliterans, his attorney Kenneth McClain said.

Watson was diagnosed in 2007 at Denver's National Jewish Health, a respiratory health center, after years of inhaling the smell of artificial butter on the popcorn he said he ate daily.

The verdict was the latest in a line of cases in the past 15 years, starting with workers in popcorn plants where diacetyl was an ingredient, that has linked the chemical to health problems.

Jurors found Gilster-Mary Lee Corp, the Chester, Illinois, private-labeling manufacturer of the popcorn, liable for 80 percent of the $7,217,961 damages and the King Soopers supermarket chain and its parent, Kroger Co, liable for 20 percent.

McClain said he has represented microwave popcorn and flavoring workers across the United States who began suing in 2004 and have been awarded large damages.

He said Dr. Cecile Rose, a witness for Watson and one of his physicians at National Jewish Health, made the connection between his disease and diacetyl when she asked him if he had been around large quantities of microwave popcorn.

She had been a consultant to the flavorings industry and had seen the same disease that Watson had among workers exposed to the chemical.

My late mother had Alzheimer's It is the family and friends who suffer the most as the patient doesn't even recognize that they are sick- at least from my experience. Kind of scary as I used to eat a lot of buttered microwave popcorn