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Disease name : Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease ( CJD ) , named after Hans Creutzfeldt and Alfons Jakob , two German doctors who first described the disease in the 1920s .
pretend populations : CJD affectsaround 1 in a million citizenry worldwideeach year . In the U.S. , roughly 350 casing of CJD are diagnose yearly . Male and females areequally probable to develop the disease .
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain of a patient with CJD.
reason : CJD is caused byabnormal protein in the mental capacity known as " prion . “These prions cause irreversible damage to tissue paper , head to the constitution of quick study - like hole throughout the brain that cause neuronsto malfunction and die . prion activate a chain reaction , prompting other , normal proteins in the nous to misfold . This perpetuate the experimental condition and causes patients to receive progressively worseissues with movement and mental function .
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Three main types of CJD exist , which differ depend on how the prion originate in the brain . The most coarse of these forms is " sporadic CJD , " which account foraround 85 % of shell . Sporadic CJD hap when normal proteins spontaneously misfold and become prion for obscure cause , with symptom usually first uprise in adults who arebetween 45 and 75years old .
Prions (in brown) can be seen clumped together in brain tissue from a patient with CJD.
to boot , between 10 % and 15 % of casesof CJD are make by a mutation in a factor called PRNP , which leads to the maturation of prions . This genetic phase of CJD is inherit in anautosomal dominant manner , meaning that a child only postulate to inherit one written matter of the faulty gene from either parent to grow the shape . hereditary CJD most often take place in peoplebetween ages 30 and 50 .
few than 1 % of CJD casesare " infectious , " meaning they are spark off by the transmission of prions from external sources . One way this can fall out is when people eat kick from oxen that have bovid spongiform brain disease , better known as " unhinged cow disease . " The U.S. has had strict regulations in place since the 1990sto prevent this from pass off . Since the 1996 discovery that hoi polloi could get CJD from " mad cows,“only 233 such cases have been reported worldwide .
Another way of life CJD can be transfer is when it ’s accidentally passed from human to homo during medical procedures — for case , if a patient role receives a graft or blood blood transfusion from a conferrer with CJD . A prominent example of this happenedfrom the late fifties to 1985 , when doctors gave patients contaminated growth hormones derive from clay . This led toat least 226 cases of CJD worldwide , including 29 cases in the U.S.
symptom : vulgar symptom of CJDinclude dementia , confusion and disorientation , delusion , lack of coordination and muscle harshness . Patients may also go through personality changes , drowsiness , seizure and issues talk . They can to boot have psychological symptoms , suchas severe depression , anxiety and irritability .
symptom of CJD often quickly progress to the point where patient become wholly bedridden , incognizant of their surroundings and unable to communicate with those around them . CJD is always fatal , andapproximately 70 % of patientsdie within a year of diagnosing , most often because ofan transmission , heart or lung failure .
treatment : There is no remedy for CJD , but drugscan help alleviate a patient ’s symptoms . For illustration , patients may be prescribed medications to reduce muscle saccade or to alleviate anxiety .
former diagnosis of the hereditary form of CJD can help patients by enabling them tomake arrangements for last of lifespan care and family preparation .
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Recent cases : InApril 2025 , public health officials report three cases of CJD observe in individuals in Hood River County in Oregon within the past eight months — two of whom have subsequently died . As of yet , no radio link between the cases has been identified .
This clause is for informational aim only and is not meant to offer aesculapian advice .
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