Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: It happens when a prion protein misfolds itself, thus causing a “domino effect” which unfolds itself causing a malfunction.
Humans have to deal with many different diseases and the ones most disliked are the ones with no cures. Like cancer, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies have no cure, but they are more rare. These diseases are prion diseases which cause the brain to deteriorate. Prions are proteins that sometimes behave like viruses, which mean that they should have some form of nucleic acid, but since they don’t, they cause abnormalities. The nervous system contains many normal prions, but when an abnormal prion comes along, it transforms all the normal prions into abnormal ones. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is found in cattle, but it can be transmitted to humans.
Diseases that are neurodegenerative, such as Alzheimer's, have a similar mechanism to prion diseases that infect the brain and slowly destroy it (Frost and Diamond, 2010). The mechanism of neurodegenerative disease, including prion diseases, begins with a normal human protein
In bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the disease is caused by the misfolding of proteins that cause proteins and peptides to develop a fibrillary structure. The PrPc is a correctly folded prion and the misfolded form is called PrPSc. BSE occurs when the normal PrPc come into contact with the toxic PrPSc and the normal prion takes on the shape of the PrPSc. The normal chaperones are unable to convert the PrPSc back to the normal form. The PrPSc now takes on the role of chaperone and the conversion of PrPc prions continue over and over. PrPSc, now being hydrophobic avoids the water of the inner cell and begin to accumulate and form plaques along the neuronal cell membranes. The aggregation of the prions on the cell membrane eventually lead to cell death which produces the sponge-like appearance in the brain of cattle infected with BSE (Thompson, 2014).
The aggregation of prion proteins and their transmissibility from one cell to another has been shown to be evident (Cushman et al.; Goedert et al. 2010), therefore strongly suggesting that these events may play a role in pathogenesis for many diseases, including both AD and PD. While none of these diseases is infectious in an identical way as
Prions are a type of protein found naturally in the brain and other regions of the central nervous system. The diseases associated with
Dementia can also be caused by Prion diseases from certain types of protein, as in CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) and GSS (Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome).
It is a rare, degenerative but fatal brain disorder affecting very a small fraction of persons. The symptoms usually arise at the age of 60 and the person dies within a year. Many researchers believe that this disorder is the result of an abnormal protein known as prion. About 5-10% cases reported in the United States share a genetic basis where this form of dementia is caused by a mutation in the gene for the prion protein. Patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease suffer from the problems associated with muscle coordination, personality changes, impaired memory, judgment making, thinking disability and impaired vision. Other possible symptoms include insomnia and depression. In later stages the persons
The central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord. The brain is connected to the spinal cord. The brain helps interpret information received from the spinal cord. Through the spinal cord signals are sent to the rest of body and back to the brain. Nerve cells (neurons) are found in the nervous system and they help communicate with other cells through electrical signals. Some of the nerve cells are coated with a myelin sheath. Myelinated neurons allow electrical signals to travel at a faster speed. When the myelinated part of the nerve cell is destroyed, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) can be the one to blame.
Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic progressive disease involving damage to the myelin sheaths of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The exact cause of multiple sclerosis is unknown but we know that something triggers the immune system to attack the central nervous system (CNS). MS happens when your immune system attacks a fatty material called myelin and without this outer shell, your nerves become damaged. The resulting damage to myelin that insulates wire like nerve fibers is a disruption of signals to and from the brain. This hiatus of communication signals causes unpredictable symptoms such as numbness, tingling, mood changes, memory problems, blindness, paralysis, fatigue and pain. People who have MS experience the disease differently,
Multiple Sclerosis, commonly referred to as MS, is an unpredictable disorder of the central nervous system, or CNS, and it is a chronic inflammatory disorder. MS is a disease that involves the immune system attacking the CNS. They myelin that covers and protects the nerve fibers is damaged, as well as the nerve fibers themselves. They myelin that is damaged forms scar tissue know as sclerosis. This is where the name of the disease came from. When the nerve fibers or myelin is damaged, the nerve fibers that travel to and from the spinal cord are distorted or interrupted this is why there is a variety of symptoms that can occur. Multiple Sclerosis affects rather young individuals, as young as twenty. It is most common in adults in their twenties
The debilitating disease affecting 20-45 year olds around the world: Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This unpredictable disease makes it somewhat challenging for doctors to diagnose it, as it can mock other diseases. Symptoms are variable and come in different degrees of severity. No two people have the exact same symptoms. There are four main categories of MS, with different treatment options. If controlled, MS will only have a few limitations and is, for the most part, ease to adapt to.
Multiple Sclerosis is a long-lasting disease that can affect your brain, spinal cord, and the nerves in your eyes. It can cause problems with your vision, balance, muscle control, and other bodily functions. There is no cause for Multiple Sclerosis but there are many symptoms that can lead you to think that you do have this special disease. Starting with vison loss, pain, fatigue, and impaired coordination. Some people can be symptom free, meanwhile some have those chronic symptoms that never go away. When you begin to have MS, it starts in your immune system, then attacks your central nervous system. There are more than 350,000 people in the United States have this progressive disease. Including Northern Europe, Southern Australia,
Multiple sclerosis is a prolonged, progressive, wasting disorder of the Central Nervous System categorized by distributed demyelination of nerve fibers of the brain and spinal cord. The onset of MS is usually between 20 and 50 years of age, although it can occur in young teens and much older adults. Women are affected two of three times more often than men. (Lewis, Dirksen, Heitkemper, Bucher, & Camera, 2014, p. 1428)
Multiple Sclerosis is a disabling autoimmune disease that basically attacks the protective sheath of our myelin. The myelin surrounds the nerve fibers and helps orchestrate impulses that our sent to our spinal cord and brain otherwise known as the central nervous system. People who are diagnosed with MS have damaged or inflamed myelin around the nerves causing poor conduction where the impulses are either weakened or lost. With the damaged myelin protective coating, the nerves are then more vulnerable to attack from the immune cells. As we know, immune cells protect the body from foreign substances such as bacteria or viruses. This neurological disease typically manifests in young people between the ages of 20-40 years old. MS is predominately diagnosed in woman more than men and also in Caucasians verses any other races. MS not only affects our ability to walk and talk, but our breathing even relies on proper functioning of the CNS. This disease deteriorates our myelin and is irreversible. Some people diagnosed with MS go long periods in remission while others eventually die.