ID :
44834
Mon, 02/09/2009 - 10:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/44834
The shortlink copeid
Cases of fatal brain disorder surge in 2008
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- Reported cases of a rare type of fatal brain disorder surged in South Korea by roughly 50 percent last year compared with years prior, the nation's disease control agency said Monday.
According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), there
were 28 cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) disease last year, up
from an average of 13-19 cases tallied for each year in the 2003-2007 period.
"The increase (in sCJD cases) is probably due to doctors taking more time to
screen for cases of fatal brain disorders as concerns over the safety of eating
beef have been heightened by the lifting of U.S. beef import restrictions last
year," a KCDC official said.
The illness is in no way related to the consumption of tainted beef.
There were no reported cases last year of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(vCJD), commonly called "human mad cow disease" due to its association with the
consumption of infected meat, the official added. South Korea has never had a
reported case of vCJD.
Seoul lifted most restrictions on U.S. beef imports in late June 2008 after
imposing a blanket ban in December 2003 following the confirmation of a case of
mad cow disease in Washington State.
CJD is a degenerative and invariably fatal brain disorder that usually affects
people over 60 and on average occurs to one person in every one million.
The exact cause has yet to be determined, but is the most common form of human
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which cause the brain to be filled
with holes making the organ look like a sponge. Patients usually suffer initially
from loss of memory and a lack of proper motor functions. The disease quickly
leads to blindness and falling into a coma.
In contrast, most cases vCJDs occur to relatively young people under the age of 40.
Health experts say sCJD is often mistaken for dementia or other neurological
disorders that affect senior citizens as the symptoms are relatively similar.
The incidence rate of the disease is similar in countries around the world, they
say, meaning South Korea could have an average of 25-100 cases per year with many
being improperly diagnosed.
According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), there
were 28 cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) disease last year, up
from an average of 13-19 cases tallied for each year in the 2003-2007 period.
"The increase (in sCJD cases) is probably due to doctors taking more time to
screen for cases of fatal brain disorders as concerns over the safety of eating
beef have been heightened by the lifting of U.S. beef import restrictions last
year," a KCDC official said.
The illness is in no way related to the consumption of tainted beef.
There were no reported cases last year of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(vCJD), commonly called "human mad cow disease" due to its association with the
consumption of infected meat, the official added. South Korea has never had a
reported case of vCJD.
Seoul lifted most restrictions on U.S. beef imports in late June 2008 after
imposing a blanket ban in December 2003 following the confirmation of a case of
mad cow disease in Washington State.
CJD is a degenerative and invariably fatal brain disorder that usually affects
people over 60 and on average occurs to one person in every one million.
The exact cause has yet to be determined, but is the most common form of human
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which cause the brain to be filled
with holes making the organ look like a sponge. Patients usually suffer initially
from loss of memory and a lack of proper motor functions. The disease quickly
leads to blindness and falling into a coma.
In contrast, most cases vCJDs occur to relatively young people under the age of 40.
Health experts say sCJD is often mistaken for dementia or other neurological
disorders that affect senior citizens as the symptoms are relatively similar.
The incidence rate of the disease is similar in countries around the world, they
say, meaning South Korea could have an average of 25-100 cases per year with many
being improperly diagnosed.
