The symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease advance rapidly compared to many other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. Symptoms affect behavior, emotion, motor skills, and cognitive functioning. The hallmark of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is quickly progressing dementia.
Symptoms of dementia and other symptoms generally start at about age 60. The way that symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease develop varies between individuals. However, every person with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease ultimately becomes permanently and completely disabled.
Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes, personality changes, failing vision, and problems with thinking and judgement. Symptoms progress quickly, and the person's condition seriously deteriorates.
Later symptoms include worsening of early symptoms and the development of involuntary muscle jerking. Blindness can occur and the ability to speak is lost. Eventually, people with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease fall into a coma. Death usually occurs within about a year after the onset of symptoms due to such complications as pneumonia. Other complications include bedsores and sepsis....more about Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease »
The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease includes the 37 symptoms listed below:
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Ocassionally other symptoms may also present themselves as symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. 1 of the more common ones are included in the list below:
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CJD is characterized as a rapidly progressive dementia. Initially, patients experience problems with muscular coordination; personality changes, including impaired memory, judgment, and thinking; and impaired vision. People with the disease also may experience insomnia, depression, or unusual sensations. CJD does not cause a fever or other flu-like symptoms. As the illness progresses, the patients' mental impairment becomes severe. They often develop involuntary muscle jerks called myoclonus, and they may go blind. They eventually lose the ability to move and speak and enter a coma. Pneumonia and other infections often occur in these patients and can lead to death.
There are several known variants of CJD. These variants differ somewhat in the symptoms and course of the disease. For example, a variant form of the disease — called new variant or variant (nv-CJD, v-CJD), described in Great Britain and France — begins primarily with psychiatric symptoms, affects younger patients than other types of CJD, and has a longer than usual duration from onset of symptoms to death. Another variant, called the panencephalopathic form, occurs primarily in Japan and has a relatively long course, with symptoms often progressing for several years. Scientists are trying to learn what causes these variations in symptoms and course of the disease. Some symptoms of CJD can be similar to symptoms of other progressive neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's or Huntington's disease. However, CJD causes unique changes in brain tissue which can be seen at autopsy. It also tends to cause more rapid deterioration of a person's abilities than Alzheimer's disease or most other types of dementia. (Source: excerpt from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Fact Sheet: NINDS)
Clinical features of CJD include a neurological presentation, with dementia, and a progressive cerebellar syndrome including ataxia, gait, and speech abnormalities. In most patients, these symptoms are followed by involuntary movements and the appearance of a typical diagnostic electroencephalogram tracing. (Source: excerpt from Facts About Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: CDC-OC)
CJD does not cause the same symptoms in everyone. Often, the first signs of CJD in hGH recipients were unsteadiness in walking, dizziness, clumsiness, and problems with balance. Later, they began to slur their words, lost muscle control, or had problems with vision, memory, or thinking clearly. Once symptoms began, the disease advanced quickly. In 2 to 3 months, patients could not walk or do other simple tasks.
Headaches are not a symptom of CJD. Mild symptoms that come and go over a long period, such as being clumsy, irritable, or forgetful, are not signs of CJD. (Source: excerpt from Update Follow-Up Study of NHPP Growth Hormone Recipients: NIDDK)
When considering symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, it is also important to consider Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease as a possible cause of other medical conditions. The Disease Database lists the following medical conditions that Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease may cause:
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The symptom information on this page attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. This signs and symptoms information for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease signs or Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease symptoms. Furthermore, signs and symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease may vary on an individual basis for each patient. Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they are indeed Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease symptoms.
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