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Article: Researchers find form of fatal insomnia
- Article from:
- The Topeka Capital-Journal
- Article date:
- May 27, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1999 The Topeka Capital-Journal. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The Associated Press
Researchers have discovered a brain-wasting disease that begins
with severe insomnia and ends in hallucinations and death.
The disease, sporadic fatal insomnia, is caused by the same type
of deformed proteins, known as prions, that cause mad cow disease and
its human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, according to two
studies.
There is no known treatment or cure. It isn't clear what causes
the disease, but scientists know it isn't inherited. And unlike one
type of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, it isn't believed to come from
infected meat.
Instead, scientists suspect it is caused by a spontaneous mutation
in a single brain or nerve cell.
So far, they have identified only ...