Health

Europe's tainted food scandals

Public confidence in food safety in Europe has again been undermined by a growing insecticide-tainted egg scandal.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Understanding Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare, degenerative, fatal brain disorder. It affects about 1 person in every 1 million per year worldwide, and about 350 cases are diagnosed per year in the U.S., according to the National Institute ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

New skin test detects prion infection before symptoms appear

Prions can infect both humans and animals, causing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, mad cow disease in cattle, and chronic wasting disease in elk and deer. The infectious, misfolded protein particles often go undetected ...

Medical research

Impact of prion proteins on the nerves revealed for the first time

When prion proteins mutate, they trigger mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Although they are found in virtually every organism, the function of these proteins remained unclear. Researchers from the University of Zurich ...

Medical research

Prion-like proteins drive several diseases of aging

Two leading neurology researchers have proposed a theory that could unify scientists' thinking about several neurodegenerative diseases and suggest therapeutic strategies to combat them.

Medical research

The flexible tail of the prion protein poisons brain cells

For decades, there has been no answer to the question of why the altered prion protein is poisonous to brain cells. Neuropathologists from the University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich have now shown that it is ...

Neuroscience

Receptor may aid spread of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in brain

(Medical Xpress)—Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a way that corrupted, disease-causing proteins spread in the brain, potentially contributing to Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's ...

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Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease ( /ˈkrɔɪtsfɛlt ˈjɑːkoʊb/ kroits-felt ya-kob) or CJD is a degenerative neurological disorder (brain disease) that is incurable and invariably fatal. CJD is at times called a human form of mad cow disease, given that bovine spongiform encephalopathy is believed to be the cause of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans.

CJD is the most common among the types of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy found in humans. In CJD, the brain tissue develops holes and takes on a sponge-like texture. This is due to a type of infectious protein called a prion. Prions are misfolded proteins which replicate by converting their properly folded counterparts.

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