Pharmaceutical and Non-Pharmaceutical Approaches to Managing Creutzfeldt-Jakob’s Disease Symptoms

Abstract

Human prion diseases are part of a family of rare neurodegenerative disorders, affecting 1-2 out of every million people globally. The most prevalent type of prion disease is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, also known as CJD. Due to the misfolding of a prion protein, there is rapid degeneration of the brain. These misfolded prions lead to the formation of colonies, destroying surrounding brain tissue, leading to inevitable fatality. As the disease progresses, symptoms continue to worsen, ultimately causing complete mobility loss, dementia, slurring of words, abnormal jerking movements, and more. The central issue with CJD is a lack of treatment options available. As of now, there is no cure, instead, therapeutic methods focus on providing relief to the patient. Exploring potential therapies for CJD patients is crucial, as a patient’s physical and mental state is unpredictable throughout the journey with the disease. Furthermore, the rapidly progressing nature of the disease leaves little time for the trial of therapeutics, as it’s extremely difficult to predict the timeline of the  symptoms, and the symptoms require constant care and attention. Thus, it is necessary to find a manner in which symptoms can be managed as efficiently as possible, without disrupting the patient’s comfort. This review summarizes a wide variety of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical therapies for CJD patients, with the goal of highlighting therapies that best relieve patients of their symptoms. Ranging from the potential use of antibodies to acute rehabilitation, these studies explore methods that can help CJD patients live out the rest of their lives in the most satisfactory manner.