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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffCreutzfeldt-Jakob (KROITS-felt YAH-kobe) disease is a degenerative brain disorder that leads to dementia and, ultimately, death. Symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) sometimes resemble those of other dementia-like brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's, but Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease usually progresses much more rapidly.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease captured public attention in the 1990s when individuals in the United Kingdom developed a form of the disease — variant CJD (vCJD) — after eating meat from diseased cattle. However, "classic" Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has not been linked to contaminated beef.
Although serious, CJD is rare, and vCJD is the least common form. Worldwide, there is an estimated one case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease diagnosed per million people each year, most commonly in older adults.
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other prion diseases. Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation. http://www.cjdfoundation.org/documents/aboutcjd.pdf. Accessed March 24, 2010.
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/cjd/detail_cjd.htm. Accessed March 24, 2010.
- Brown HG, et al. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. http://www.uptodate.com. Accessed March 24, 2010.
- Brown HG, et al. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. http://www.uptodate.com. Accessed March 25, 2010.
- vCJD (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/vcjd/factsheet_nvcjd.htm. Accessed March 24, 2010.
- CJD fact sheet. Creuzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation Inc. http://www.cjdfoundation.org/. Accessed March 24, 2010.
- vCJD (Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease): Risk for travelers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/vcjd/risk_travelers.htm. Accessed March 24, 2010.
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