Facts About Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Neurodegenerative diseases are some of the most troubling to mankind, especially because there are no cures at present. Alzheimer's disease, for instance, is extremely distressing for the patient and the family and can linger for many years. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is another distressing, albeit very rare, neurological disease that has no cure. Unlike Alzheimer's, this disease kills its victims quickly, within just months after diagnosis.
There are actually four variants of CJD, and the most common type is called sporadic CJD, and more than 80% of those with CJD have this particular form. In addition, these patients have no family history of the disease and no specific risk factors for CJD. About 10 percent of cases are inherited, which is called familial CJD or fCJD.
There are also two types of CJD that are acquired and also extremely rare. Many people associate CJD with mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), and more than 200 people have contracted what is called variant CJD and died from eating foods from infected animals. Most of these deaths occurred in the United Kingdom where nearly 200,000 cattle were found to be infected, and more than 4 million were slaughtered to eradicate the risk of spreading the disease. While some diseases can be prevented by simply cooking meat to a specific temperature, this is not true of mad cow disease.
Human to human transmission does not occur from casual contact nor is it airborne. However, coming into contact with parts of the brain infected with CJD can cause transmission of the disease, which is called iatrogenic CJD. This could be caused by receiving infected immunoglobulin or corneal grafts, as well as dural grafts. A few cases were linked to a drug containing infected human growth hormone, but this product was removed from the market in the 1980s. Blood transmission of vCJD also is possible and because of this, the American Red Cross and other organizations have forbidden individuals who spent three or more months in the United Kingdom during the 1980s through 1996 from donating blood.
No one knows why this disease occurs, but they do known that the disease develops because of misfolded proteins known as prions. The prions reproduce many times and eventually begin creating holes in the brain's tissue, and the tissue becomes sponge like. The first symptoms of CJD are often problems with memory, hallucinations and personality changes. The latter is especially true of the vCJD related to mad cow disease, and patients suffer from several mood changes as well as a heightened sense of touch which causes a great deal of pain.
There are no medical treatments available for any type of CJD and no cure. Scientists currently are studying to find out whether the prion is the cause of the disease or whether the disease causes the prion to occur. To do this, custom protein expression and custom protein sequencing services are often purchased from biotechnology companies that specialize in these services.
There are actually four variants of CJD, and the most common type is called sporadic CJD, and more than 80% of those with CJD have this particular form. In addition, these patients have no family history of the disease and no specific risk factors for CJD. About 10 percent of cases are inherited, which is called familial CJD or fCJD.
There are also two types of CJD that are acquired and also extremely rare. Many people associate CJD with mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), and more than 200 people have contracted what is called variant CJD and died from eating foods from infected animals. Most of these deaths occurred in the United Kingdom where nearly 200,000 cattle were found to be infected, and more than 4 million were slaughtered to eradicate the risk of spreading the disease. While some diseases can be prevented by simply cooking meat to a specific temperature, this is not true of mad cow disease.
Human to human transmission does not occur from casual contact nor is it airborne. However, coming into contact with parts of the brain infected with CJD can cause transmission of the disease, which is called iatrogenic CJD. This could be caused by receiving infected immunoglobulin or corneal grafts, as well as dural grafts. A few cases were linked to a drug containing infected human growth hormone, but this product was removed from the market in the 1980s. Blood transmission of vCJD also is possible and because of this, the American Red Cross and other organizations have forbidden individuals who spent three or more months in the United Kingdom during the 1980s through 1996 from donating blood.
No one knows why this disease occurs, but they do known that the disease develops because of misfolded proteins known as prions. The prions reproduce many times and eventually begin creating holes in the brain's tissue, and the tissue becomes sponge like. The first symptoms of CJD are often problems with memory, hallucinations and personality changes. The latter is especially true of the vCJD related to mad cow disease, and patients suffer from several mood changes as well as a heightened sense of touch which causes a great deal of pain.
There are no medical treatments available for any type of CJD and no cure. Scientists currently are studying to find out whether the prion is the cause of the disease or whether the disease causes the prion to occur. To do this, custom protein expression and custom protein sequencing services are often purchased from biotechnology companies that specialize in these services.
About the Author:
Armand Zeiders enjoys writing about biomedical research. For more information about custom antibodies, please check out the PrimmBiotech.com website now.
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New Unique Article!
Title: Facts About Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Author: Armand Zeiders
Email: articles@zerocompany.com
Keywords: creutzfeldt-jakob disease,creutzfeldt-jakob disease facts,biomedical research,biotech services,biotech company,biotech,science,health,business
Word Count: 486
Category: Science
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