What is CJD and what is the difference between “classical CJD” and “variant CJD”?
Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease is a neurodegenerative disease that was first described in the 1920s. About one third of patients initially express vague feelings of fatigue, disordered sleep, or decreased appetite. Another third have neurologic symptoms such as memory loss, confusion or uncharacteristic behaviour. The final third have signs such as loss of vision, poor muscle coordination or problems with speech. It involves a loss of mental and physical abilities. Classical CJD has always had sporadic occurrence in people with a mean age of 60 and incidence rate of one-in-one million worldwide. Variant CJD has only been identified in the last few years. It is different in that it occurs in people with a mean age under 30. The risk factors are unknown, except that we do know that the prion agent causing Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or “Mad Cow” disease is the same agent that causes variant CJD. People in the U.K. and France were exposed to BSE through food in the mid-to-late 1980s
