Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research Paper

Learning about neurological disorders has been a bit of a hobby for some time now. I was an active member for about 2 years in my high school’s Psychology Club led by the school’s psychology teacher. Due to the teacher’s connections, we were able to visit the Johns Hopkins Pediatric Neurology clinic, where we learned about the wide range of neurological disorders children could have, as well as the current cutting edge research being done. Although I have many research areas and topics I would like to explore, if I could conduct research in one particular topic, it would be neurological disorders, more specifically Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Neurological disorders affect the central and peripheral nervous system. There are over 600 neurological

In fact the disease is one of the most misdiagnosed neurological disorders. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a progressive degenerative disorder that usually shows symptoms at around age 60. It causes impaired memory and vision, personality changes, and muscle jerks in the early stage. The disorder progresses until the person is no longer able to move or speak. People with the disease usually die within a year. Diagnosing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is difficult because it shares similar early symptoms with other disorders, which often will lead to misdiagnosis. My interest in neurological disorders was inspired a few years ago when a close family friend who was elderly man had contracted the disease. According to his wife, when he began to show early symptoms of memory loss, he went to three physicians who all diagnosed him with Dementia even though it seemed to be progressing quite rapidly. It was only when the man had already lost his bodily functions did they decide to test him again, and diagnose him with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. He died 2 weeks later after the diagnosis. Ever since that experience, I have developed a keen interest in neurological disorders and the nervous system