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News items on 'Creutzfeldt-jakob Disease'
Scientists make mad cow discovery
(BBC 20/11/2009)
Scientists at the University of Leeds say they have made a significant discovery which could help in the treatment of "mad cow disease". The team found a protein which assists in the development of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and its human form Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD). The protein Glypican-1 was found to cause other proteins in the nervous system to become abnormal. Professor Nigel Hooper said the find may also help to fight Alzheimer's.
Immune tribe 'indicates CJD hope'
(BBC 19/11/2009)
Darwinian natural selection could help halt human "mad cow disease", experts say after finding a tribe impervious to a related fatal brain disorder. The Papua New Guinea tribe developed strong genetic resistance after a major epidemic of the CJD-like disease, kuru, spread mostly by cannibalism. Medical Research Council experts assessed more than 3,000 survivors of the mid-20th Century epidemic. Their findings appear in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Human form of mad cow reported in Italy
(World health - EU Monitor 23/10/2009)
ROME - The Italian Health Ministry reported Friday a "likely" case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, the human form of mad cow disease. Since national records were established in 1993, Italy has had only one known case of the disease, in 2002, the ministry said. It said the likely new case was believed to have been infected before the use of animal and bone meal in animal feed was banned in December 2000.
New research shows why young people are more prone to CJD
(The Scotsman 15/10/2009)
CELLS in the immune system could hold the key to why younger people are more susceptible to the human form of mad cow disease, Scottish scientists said yesterday. Patients diagnosed with variant CJD (vCJD) are just 28 years old on average, and it has been unclear why older people are not affected by the disease to the same extent. Now researchers have pinpointed cells which, by working less efficiently than they used to due to age, are thought to hamper the spread of the disease.
Coroners 'reject plea over vCJD'
(BBC 19/08/2009)
Coroners are refusing to test for an infection which causes vCJD - despite government pleas that it could help protect the public, the BBC has learnt. Scientists said the checks during post-mortem examinations could help find out how many people in the population have the infection without knowing it. This would help decide whether current measures to protect blood transfusion and surgical patients are sufficient. But coroners claimed doing such tests could undermine their neutrality.
vCJD carrier risk 'overestimated'
(BBC 22/05/2009)
Far fewer people may have the human form of mad cow disease in the UK than previously feared, Health Protection Agency researchers have said. There have been 168 definite or probable cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) since 1995. Previous calculations based on that figure suggested there could be up to 190 more cases in the next few decades. But the new research, in the British Medical Journal, found no evidence of vCJD in 63,000 tonsil tissue samples.
UK may import more blood over BSE risk
(World health - EU Monitor 18/02/2009)
Safety advisers are considering increasing imports of blood to reduce the risk of further infections of variant CJD, the human form of BSE, through blood transfusions. The move comes as the Health Protection Agency yesterday confirmed the first case of an NHS patient contracting the human form of BSE after being treated with infected blood projects.
Blood test for vCJD may be here by summer
(World health - EU Monitor 18/02/2009)
A NEW blood test for the human form of mad cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD), could be available this summer. The Irish Blood Transfusion Service's national medical director Dr William Murphy said yesterday he is hopeful EU approval for the test could be secured soon. The blood bank would be asking for e3 million a year in Government funding to include the test in its screening.
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Thousands at risk of human form of mad cow disease
(World health - EU Monitor 17/02/2009)
A haemophiliac in his 70s who recently died was found to be infected with variant Creutzfeldt-Jackob Disease (vCJD) although this did not cause his death. He had received proteins to help his blood clot from a donor who later died from vCJD and it is thought this is how he became infected. Experts said until now there was only a theoretical risk that vCJD could be transmitted in this way...
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