New form of brain-wasting disease identified

CBC News

Researchers in the U.S. have identified the emergence of a new type of brain-wasting disease that resembles Creutzfeld-Jakob, the human form of mad cow disease.

Similarly to Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (CJD), the human variant of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the new disease causes the brains of sufferers to fill with tiny holes, robbing them of the ability to think, speak and move.

In the U.S., it has been found in 16 people since 2002, 10 of whom have died of it.

Cases of the disease were first described in the Annals of Neurology in 2006 and are discussed in an article in the June 20 issue of the journal and in a July 9 article in New Scientist.

more:  http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/07/09/brain-wasting.html