Creutzfeldt-jakob disease (cjd)

[Jessica]

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a prion disease characterized by progressive deterioration of mental function, leading to dementia, involuntary jerking of muscles (myoclonus), and staggering when walking. A variant form is acquired by eating contaminated beef.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease usually occurs spontaneously but may result from eating contaminated beef or from inheriting an abnormal gene.
At first, most people are confused and have memory problems, then muscles begin to jerk involuntarily and coordination is lost.
Most people die within 4 months to 2 years.
The diagnosis can usually be confirmed by electrocephalography, analysis of cerebrospinal fluid, and magnetic resonance imaging.
There is no cure, but drugs can relieve some of the symptoms.

(See also Overview of Prion Diseases.)
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a prion disease, which develops when a normal protein called cellular prion protein (PrPC) changes shape (misfolds) and becomes disease-causing prion. Prions slowly accumulate in the brain and usually cause tiny bubbles to form in brain cells, which gradually die. When enough brain cells malfunction or die, symptoms develop, followed by the person