CJD is a disease caused by a misfolding protein, called a prion. (PREE-on) Prion diseases are a group of rare and fatal brain diseases which occur in both humans and animals. In humans, it is known as CJD. Cows get BSE, which stands for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Deer and elk contract CWD, or chronic wasting disease. There is no cure or clinical diagnosis for CJD. There is no cure for any of the diseases in the prion family.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Today marks two years since my mom died.

I can't even cry. All I can think is that I wish we could have done better for her. I wish we could have used a simple diagnostic test to tell her what was wrong with her. I wish we could have been able to do that to save time, aggravation, fear, stress and helplessness. I wish we could have explained to her that she was dying and how. I wish we could have exchanged proper goodbyes.

But we couldn't. And that's CJD for you.

I still don't have a lot of answers and that is what is on my mind the most today.

R.I.P. Phyllis Larson, 11-10-04

Sunday, November 05, 2006

I never thought of the mosquito aspect before.

This is truly scary to me. CWD is transmissable via saliva and blood, making even mosquitoes a danger. It is my hope that all hunters get better informed before they head out to kill a deer or elk.

Of course, the best way to protect yourself is not to hunt at all...but people will do what they will.

Live and learn, here's a good article that will make any hunter think twice (or 50 times) about safety when hunting cervids that can potentially contaminate them with CWD. It's not the way you want to die, so get informed.

CWD worrisome to Livermore hunter.

What's new

I haven't posted in 34 days! I've been busy moving and not feeling well most of the time, so I'm way behind on stuff like this. I was supposed to speak at Barrow Neurological Institute last month on behalf of the CJD Foundation. But there was a last minute scheduling conflict for our CDC doctor, so the morning of CME credit for the physicians has been pushed back to January 2007. That is fine with me at the moment as free time when I feel well is in short supply.

Meanwhile, I am happy to report our CJD Support group on Myspace is slowly taking off. There have been a couple new members lately to join up, so that's nice. I figure MySpace is just another good way to meet others like me and to keep networking. Anything to raise awareness of CJD and to direct people to the help they are seeking!

I just wish our members would post and get some communication going! Here's the MySpace group. If you're into MySpace, stop in and join up, introduce yourself and we can get people talking.

That's always the goal -- CJD Talk!