Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease or CJD (pronounced /ˈkrɔɪtsfɛlt ˈjɑkɔp/) (sometimes incorrectly referred to as mad cow disease) is a degenerative neurological disorder (brain disease) that is incurable and invariably fatal. It is the most common among the types of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy found in humans.
The disease was first described by German neurologist Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt in 1920 and shortly afterwards by Alfons Maria Jakob, g...
more
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease or CJD (pronounced /ˈkrɔɪtsfɛlt ˈjɑkɔp/) (sometimes incorrectly referred to as mad cow disease) is a degenerative neurological disorder (brain disease) that is incurable and invariably fatal. It is the most common among the types of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy found in humans.
The disease was first described by German neurologist Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt in 1920 and shortly afterwards by Alfons Maria Jakob, giving it the name Creutzfeldt–Jakob. Some of the clinical findings described in their first papers do not match current criteria for Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, and it is considered highly likely that at least two of the patients in initial studies were suffering from a different ailment.
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy diseases are caused by prions. The diseases are thus sometimes called prion diseases. Other prion diseases include Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker syndrome (GSS), fatal familial insomnia (FFI) and kuru in humans, as well...
less
