Warning Signs Of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Slurred Speech

Speech difficulties are another early symptom of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. One of the challenges in treating CJD is diagnosing it, as many of the symptoms resemble those of other dementias. The main difference is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease progresses a lot faster and often kills the patient within a year, while most dementia patients can survive for several years. The difficulty is compounded if the patient has atypical symptoms. In February 2018, for example, the online science journal 'Case Reports Critical Care' described a patient with slurred speech, aphasia confusion, headaches, vertigo, and myoclonus. He also had constant, but non-convulsive seizures. The doctors performed a battery of tests to both diagnose his condition and rule out more common conditions like stroke or liver disease.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is rare and is thus not likely to be the first disease a doctor considers when examining a patient who shows symptoms of dementia. Seizures can occur in about fifteen percent of patients with CJD, but they occur as initial symptoms in about three percent of patients. The patient’s aphasia, which took the form of trouble finding the right word to describe something, is also a symptom that usually develops later on as the disease progresses.

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