Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease as an Ongoing Concern: A Narrative Review

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder that makes up the majority of cases of prion disease. It is relatively rare, with a variety of subtypes that have significant variation in phenotype and etiology. Further, CJD shares a close relationship with other neurodegenerative diseases and is often underreported due to notorious difficulties in diagnosis. Recent developments, however, have improved the likelihood of clinical diagnosis. Additionally, there have been a number of research efforts in recent years toward CJD treatments. These recent developments and the potentially great benefit of progress in CJD research have spurred the creation of this narrative review to provide an overview of the current research on CJD and related prion diseases. Areas of focus include CJD subtypes, related prion diseases, epidemiology, pathophysiology, presentation/diagnosis, treatments, and, finally, connections with other diseases. Efforts were made to create an accessible review that could be useful as a precursor to future research.