Research Paper on Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease: Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Diagnosis

In this paper, I will discuss the signs and symptoms that appear when a person is suffering from Creutzfeldt Jakob disease. The paper will also explore the causes and diagnosis of the disease. Through exploring the topic, I will be in position future expectation concerning the disease.

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Introduction

Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (CJD) is a critical degenerative mental disorder, which is caused by a protein component, the prion. At an early stage, a person who is suffering from disorder experiences brain issues, behavioral changes, and more issues linked to mental performance. At a late stage, a person experiences involuntary movements, weakness, and blindness.

Due to the risks associated with the disease, 70 percent of individuals die within a year after diagnosis (Yavuz et al., 2018). Usually, 85 percent of the disorder occurs spontaneously, while 7.5 percent as associated with inheritance (Yalin et al., 2017). Approaches such as electroencephalography have been used in the diagnosis of the disorder. The objective of the paper revolves around the signs, causes, and diagnosis of CJD.

Signs and Symptoms

According to Bougard et al. (2016), CJD has several signs, which are associated with progressive dementia. Dementia causes brain and personality alternation and hallucination. About 90 percent of individuals who are diagnosed by the disorder experience progressive dementia. The disease is also associated with pneumonia, which occurs as a result of impaired coughing.

Additionally, people suffering from the disease are associated with anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. These signs are complemented with physical issues such as speech impairments, balance, and coordination dysfunction. According to Yalin et al. (2017), a large number of individuals who are affected by the disease experience involuntary and distress movement. The appearance of the signs varies from few weeks to several months. In which, most individuals who are diagnosed with the disease die six months after the first sign appeared. About 15 percent of CJD patient lives for more than two years (Bougard et al., 2016). As such, progressive dementia, anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms are major signs of CJD.

Causes. According to Iwasaki (2017), CJD is transmitted by prions, which are found on neurons of the central nervous system. Prions impact the signaling process, destroy neurons, and finally cause degeneration, which leads to spongiform that affects the mind. Iwasaki (2017) illustrates that, prions are a critical component since it leads to the refolding of the native protein promote the cause of disease.

The number of misfolded protein triggers an increase in the quality of insoluble protected in the damaged area. According to Steinacker et al. (2016), a large volume of misfolded protect distracts neuronal cell roles, and this triggers cell death. Additionally, CJD may occur on individuals who carry a mutation of the gene that codes for prion protein. According to Yalin et al. (2017) demonstrates that, 10 percent of the cases of CJD is caused by a gene mutation. The occurrence of the issue is triggered by aging. The disease may be transmitted by interact with harvested people's brain products. Furthermore, the condition may be inherited from one family member to another. In this case, CJD is mostly caused by prions, and a small percentages is associated with inheritance transmission.

Diagnosis. For many years, the diagnosis of CJD has been problematic due to the lack of effective techniques that illustrate signs when the disease is at an early stage. Therefore, it becomes critical to safeguarding brain tissues from being damaged (Steinacker et al. 2016). The first diagnosis occurs once a person starts showing progressive dementia, which makes it challenging to engage in activities such as walking and balance (Uttley et al., 2020).

Currently, the efficiency of electroencephalography and cerebrospinal fluids has assisted in improving the diagnosis process. Despite the treatment being a slow process, the application of RNA interference assists in controlling the effect of the disease. The application of electroencephalography and cerebrospinal fluids are two major techniques that are used in the diagnosis of the disease.

Conclusion

CJD is a critical disease that occurs due to brain damage. Once a person has been affected, they experience memory loss, which affects their mode of coordination. CJD is transmitted by prions, which are found on neurons of the central nervous system. Lack of effective treatment approach has affected the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. As a way of enhancing future performance, more research and innovation should be introduced to assist in detecting the disease when it is at an early stage. The concept will assist in reducing high death rate that occurs due to lack of better treatment approaches.

References

Bougard, D., Brandel, J. P., Belondrade, M., Beringue, V., Segarra, C., Fleury, H., & Welaratne, A. (2016). Detection of prions in the plasma of presymptomatic and symptomatic patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Science Translational Medicine, 8(370), 370ra182-370ra182. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5538786/.

Iwasaki, Y. (2017). CreutzfeldtJakob disease. Neuropathology, 37(2), 174-188. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/neup.12355.

Steinacker, P., Blennow, K., Halbgebauer, S., Shi, S., Ruf, V., Oeckl, P., & Otto, M. (2016). Neurofilaments in blood and CSF for diagnosis and prediction of onset in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Scientific Reports, 6, 38737. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dian_He/publication/322688617_Primary_Angiitis_of_the_Central_Nervous_System_Mimicking_Sporadic_Creutzfeldt-Jakob_Disease_A_Case_Study/links/5ba8941f92851ca9ed212d5d/Primary-Angiitis-of-the-Central-Nervous-System-Mimicking-Sporadic-Creutzfeldt-Jakob-Disease-A-Case-Study.pdf.

Uttley, L., Carroll, C., Wong, R., Hilton, D. A., & Stevenson, M. (2020). Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: a systematic review of global incidence, prevalence, infectivity, and incubation. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 20(1), e2-e10. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matt_Stevenson2/publication/338304315_Creutzfeldt-Jakob_disease_a_systematic_review_of_global_incidence_prevalence_infectivity_and_incubation/links/5e2ae9fb299bf1521679897c/Creutzfeldt-Jakob-disease-a-systematic-review-of-global-incidence-prevalence-infectivity-and-incubation.pdf.

Yalin, O. O., Bas, I., Emre, U., Yagiz, O., & Erdal, Y. (2017). A case of sporadic Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease mimicking Variant Form. Istanbul Medical Journal, 18(4). Retrieved from cms.galenos.com.tr/Uploads/Article_20759/IMJ-18-245-En.pdf.

Yavuz, N., Erdal, Y., Emre, U., Atalar, A. C., & Yalin, O. O. (2018). Sporadic Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease with isolated cerebellar findings at Onset. Turkish Journal of Neurology, 24(3), 271-272. Retrieved from https://www.journalagent.com/z4/download_fulltext.asp?pdir=tjn&ppdf=2&plng=eng&un=TJN-79989.