Prions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Prions - Essay ExampleClinical signs among others include personality changes, psychiatric problems, lack of coordination, steady gait, involuntary jerking movements, unusual sensations, insomnia, bewilderment and severe mental impairment in the later st get along withs.Those known to infect other vertebrate animals include scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cows, inveterate wasting indisposition in American elk and deer, transmissible mink encephalopathy in mink and feline spongiform encephalopathy in cats (Jeffrey, Goodbrand & Goodsir 1995).One of the uncomplicated try factors identified in relation to prion maladys is age. Studies suggest that a general mechanism might produce the remarkable reduction in disease risk as age increases. For example, in a study of scrapie outbreaks, it is observed that incidence of clinical cases peaked in sheep with age ranging from 2 to 3 years. The same age range has been noted in cattle with mad cow and deer with chr onic wasting disease (Heisey 2004).In terms of its prevalence in the human race population, it is estimated that 1 in 10,000 people are infected with CJD at the time of death. The actual prevalence of prion diseases are very difficult to ascertain due to overlapping symptoms that may lead to misdiagnosis. (Heaphy 2003)Research pertaining Research pertaining to prion diseases is deemed limited by the fact that studying them is substantially hampered by the unconventional properties of the presumed etiologic agent. Moreover, the long incubation plosive ranging from 34 to 41 years (Mad cow could be dormant in people 2006) of the diseases make them more difficult to detect. Moreover, the standard laboratory methods apply for studying viruses and bacteria may not be applicable in this case (Belay & Telling).However, following reports of the outbreak of BSE, commonly termed as mad cow disease, in many European countries coupled with the estimated economic and medical implications of th e said epidemic, the scope and character of research on prion diseases has developed rapidly. This paper focuses on the current advancements in the study of prion diseases specifically in terms of modes of transmission, diagnosis methods, possible treatment and prevention.Modes of TransmissionThe manner of transmission of prion diseases is of primary concern in view of the protein nature of the prions. Note that unlike other types of infectious diseases which are spread by microbes, prion diseases are caused by misshaped protein, dubbed as prion protein, which transmits the disease between individuals causing brain damage (Belkin 2003).Based on recent studies, prion diseases have been considered unique as these can be inherited, sporadically occur or spread through infection. Majority of the prion disease cases are said to occur spontaneously, hence, animals with no prion protein mutation were observed infected. (Collinge 2001)On the other hand, inherited prion disease occurs in an imals carrying a rare mutant prion allele. The disease is transmitted when healthy animal consume tainted tissues of other infected animals. The mad cow epidemic has been attributed to this mode of transmission as practice of alimentation the cattle with processed remains of other cattle, which may have been infected already, became common. (Weissmann 2004)In humans, as in the cases of CJD, the