CREUTSFELD-JAKOB DISEASE

Senior Care, Personal Centered Care Teddington United Kingdom

CREUTSFELD-JAKOB DISEASE

Also known as CJD This is a very rare disease it only affects around 2 in a million people a year in the united kingdom ,its caused by clumps of protein building up and makes the brain cell die .This leaves the brain cells like a sponge . A person with this disease will have vision memory problems ,they will experience loss of balance and will find it harder to use there muscles as in walking or picking up a cup. This disease usually takes a long time to develop so the symptoms may take longer to appear unfortunately once they do it is a rapid decline and the person will die within a year .

Types of CJD Sporadic this is the most common and seems to develop for no reason in people over 60 Familia from inheriting faulty genes from a parent this can start from as young as 30 years old Acquired CJD This happens when you come into contact with an abnormal prion protein such as eating meat from an infected cow also known to us as mad cow disease. These cases are extremely rare as measures were taken to remove infected animals from the food chain ,apparently there were 178 cases between 1970 and 2017 the average age of the people suffering from this was 26 years. A diagnosis for CJD is difficult and may involve brain scans MRI Samples of spinal fluid using a lumber puncture. There is no cure for this it just involves the person being made as comfortable as possible.

Marina Barker
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