A strong link between mad cow disease and the new variant of CJD is now suspected. Most believe that this new variant CJD is the human form of mad cow disease.

What are the symptoms of this disease, take note of the following symptoms. 
- fatigue and disordered sleep
- memory loss and confusion
- psychiatric and behavioral problems
- altered sensation
- difficulty with walking and movement
- vision loss
- difficulty talking
- paralysis

The known cause and risk of this is disease is the prion diseases is prion proteins. These prion diseases are thought to be spread by eating infected tissue, such as beef from a cow with mad cow disease. Another method may be by contact with infected tissue through broken skin or mucous membranes. Some people are at greater risk for prion disease because of heredity. Specific risk factors for new variant CJD are not known.

The recent outbreak of new variant CJD in the United Kingdom may have been due to people eating beef from cows with mad cow disease. It is possible, though not proven, that avoidance of eating meat may have prevented this outbreak. How is this diagnosed? A final diagnosis can be made with a biopsy of the brain. This involves taking a small piece of brain tissue with a special needle. The piece of tissue can then be examined with a microscope. At death, an autopsy will also show specific changes in the brain.

The long-term effects of the disease to humans are brain degeneration and death are the final results of mad cow disease. Though Mad cow disease is not thought to be contagious. Exposure to the internal organs of an animal with mad cow disease may transmit this disease, but this has not been proven. It should be noted that this disease is very poorly understood. There is much debate over whether or not it can be passed to humans at all. People who are cannibals in remote parts of the world have been shown to get other prion diseases from eating infected people's brains.

There is no treatment for this disease. Some medications may be useful to reduce symptoms, such as psychiatric or behavioral problems. All medications have possible side effects. These may include allergic reactions and stomach upset. Specific side effects depend on the drugs used. Death usually occurs within 2 years of when symptoms start.

Symptoms and physical exam are followed to see if any new medicines to treat symptoms may be needed.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare and fatal infectious disease of the brain. It affects about one person in a million. Experts do not know how most people get this disease, although sometimes CJD is inherited and called familial CJD. CJD usually occurs in people who are at least 60 years old. The disease is characterized by rapid progressive dementia. Usually, the person dies within 6 months after symptoms appear. The incubation period, which is the time between exposure to the organism and development of symptoms, is thought to range between 3 and 20 years.

Symptoms include: dementia, as shown by confusion, disorientation, and memory loss sight problems abnormal behavior movement abnormalities muscle spasms.

Experts are not sure what causes CJD. The disease can be transmitted in several ways. One is hormones used to treat certain endocrine problems, such as hormone disorders, are originally taken from an infected person and passed to the recipient. Another is donors of certain human transplant tissues, such as corneas, are infected and so the recipient gets infected. Third, the disease is inherited from another family member. Forth, an individual, such as a surgeon or healthcare worker, is exposed to infected tissue, for example, while operating on an infected patient's brain. This infection is then passed to other patients through contact with the surgeon or healthcare worker.

The best way to diagnose CJD is to biopsy the brain by taking tissue and examining it under a microscope. Sometimes brain imaging is helpful using computerized tomography scan (CAT), a special three-dimensional x-ray, or magnetic resonance imaging, a special three-dimensional image using magnets, and an electroencephalogram (EEG),a recording of brain waves.

CJD causes progressive mental deterioration that results in death in about 6 months. CJD cannot be spread from person to person unless there is contact with infected brain tissue and There are no treatments for CJD!!!

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