Written by: Prasiddhi Dangol - 28009, Grade VI
Posted on: 29 September, 2021
Prion is an infectious protein. The term is abbreviated as "protein-containing particles". All diseases known as prion in mammals affect the structure of the brain or other neural tissues. At present they are incurable and end up with frequent deaths. Ulcers cause many types of encephalitis, or brain disease, such as scrapie, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) and kuru. Prions work by altering the protein composition in infected animals. While normal proteins have many alpha helices, or twisted parts, modified proteins have more beta sheets, or flat parts. This name is called pree-on. Because prions are proteins, and proteins cannot reproduce themselves, it is a mystery how prions work. Many biological studies continue to find out how they reproduce themselves, with no clear results to date.
These extracts are believed to include proteins that make up the infectious prion, invade nerve cells and produce neurodegenerative brain disease, caused by the insertion of abnormally wrapped proteins in the brain. Prion disease occurs when normal prion proteins, found on the surface of many cells, become abnormal and continue in the brain, causing brain damage. Prion disease or spongiform encephalopathy (TSEs) in the family of chronic neurodegenerative diseases affecting humans and animals. They are characterized by periods of prolonged incubation, spongiform feature changes associated with neuronal loss, and failure to create an inflammatory response. Unfortunately, prion diseases often develop rapidly and are often fatal. Human prion disease includes Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Syndrome, Fatal Familial Insomnia, and Kuru.
To protect ourselves from prion we must follow the following preventive measures:
To set strict rules for importing cattle into countries where BSE occurs, preventing parts of cattle such as the brain and spinal cord from being used in the diet of humans or animals, preventing those with a history or risk of developing prion disease from donating blood or other tissues.
destroying discarded medical tools.
Source: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/prion-diseases
