The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. More than 5.5 million People over the age of 65 are currently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease with predictions of 13.8 million to be diagnosed by the year 2050 (Sultana, et al., 2013) (Hebert, Weuve, Scherr, & Evans, 2013). With few treatments available, scientists are desperately looking for a solution to this growing epidemic. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is also a neurodegenerative disorder, but with a far less prevalence of only 4.6 persons per million per year. It was discovered that Alzheimer’s and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease share many pathophysiological mechanisms with each other. Being that both of these illnesses are currently incurable, a thorough critical analysis of mechanisms and potential treatments were preformed to ascertain if knowledge in one disorder can help find a cure for the other. With the strong relationship between these two disorders, it was found that many treatments intended for one illness had positive results for the other (some with slight modifications). The discovery of this correlation improved scientist’s knowledge of the pathological mechanism of these ailments along with finding new and creative ways for treatment. Experiments geared towards the relationship between Alzheimer’s and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has brought researchers closer to finding a cure for several neurodegenerative disorders.
Recommended Citation
Rotblat, D. (2015). Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease: Does Overlap of Mechanism Mean Overlap of Treatment Methods?. The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences, 8(2). Retrieved from https://touroscholar.touro.edu/sjlcas/vol8/iss2/11
