There has been excitement about a Nature article (http://www.nature.com/news/autopsies-reveal-signs-of-alzheimer-s-in-growth-hormone-patients-1.18331) based on 8 human cadavers showing that the brains of people treated with 'contaminated growth hormone' showed protein markers (prions) implicated in the plaque formation that is characteristic on the onset of Alzheimer's disease. It has been known for years that such hormone treatment can result in Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and the fear seems to be that surgical instruments used with such patients could transfer prions that could trigger Alzheimers in patients treated subsequently by surgeons or even dentists. The prions are resistant to all normal means of sterilisation. Having said that, 'contaminated growth hormone' used to be extracted from human cadavers as growth hormone from other animals doesn't work in humans. Most growth hormone used clinically nowadays is produced by GM technology and is unlikely to contain any contaminants. So the findings really apply to an older generation of patients where the only really effective strategy might be to not re-use instruments.
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