JAKOB’S DISEASE

SYMPTOMS

Jakob’s disease is characterized by prompt mental degeneration. Early signs and symptoms include:

• Loss of memory
• Impaired reasoning
• Changes in personality
• Blindness and blurred eyesight
• Sleeplessness
• Speech impairment
• The inability to balance and coordinate
• Swallowing problems
• Myoclonus or jerky movement

As the disease develops, mental symptoms arise. The vast majority of victims suffer due to their injuries and fall into a coma. In addition, heart failure, respiratory or lung failure, pneumonia, and other infections are the most common causes of death, with most deaths occurring within a year.

Cognitive symptoms may be more detectable in those with the rarer form of CJD, vCJD. Dementia, or the loss of the ability to think, reason, and remember, is a common side effect of Alzheimer’s disease. People of a younger age are also affected by vCJD, which lasts for 12 to 14 months.

DIAGNOSIS

Jakob’s disease can only be diagnosed through a brain biopsy or an autopsy. However, your medical and personal history, a neurological exam, and certain diagnostic tests can often help doctors make an accurate diagnosis.

Symptoms—such as muscle twitches and contractions, dysfunctional reflexes, and coordination issues—are likely to be discovered during the examination. Areas of vision and alterations in neural activity are also possible in people with this condition.

Furthermore, doctors frequently use the following tests to detect this condition:

• Electroencephalogram (EEG)
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Spinal Fluid Test

In addition, the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) test is a recent test that can detect the presence of prion proteins in spinal fluid and aid in diagnosis.

TREATMENT

Jakob’s disease, or any of its forms, has no effective treatment. Many medications have been tried and found to be ineffective. As a result, doctors concentrate on reducing pain and other symptoms, as well as making patients comfortable as possible.