Kuru

By: KJ Smith
 * Kuru**


 * Short description:** This is a very rare disease. It is an incurable degenerative brain disorder caused by prions.


 * The Root Cause of the Disease: ** This is caused by cannibalism starting within the Fore tribe in Papa New Guinea by performing a funeral ritual.


 * Cell Types that are Affected:** Kuru affects the entire cell once the cell is infected. This disease eventually affects the brain.

Source: www.stanford.edu
 * Fig. 1**. This is the PrPc prion and the PrPsc prion. The normal conformer (PrPc prion) Changes shape once the rogue conformer (PrPsc prion) is attached, causing damage to the cell and eventually the brain.


 * Historical Background:** This disease originated within the Fore tribe of Papa New Guinea. The tribe practiced a cannibalistic funeral, "mortuary feasts." When someone died, they had to dispose of the body by eating them. This included the brain, the main source of the disease. In 1976, Daniel Carleton Gajdusek discovered the mechanism of Kuru, earning him the Nobel Prize in Physiology. In 1979, Shirley Lindenbaum, an anthropologist, wrote a book about the disease. The victims were mainly women and children since it was part of the tradition for them to consume the brain.

There are three stages that accompany this disease.
 * Common Symptoms:**

__Stage 1: Ambulant Stage__ Symptoms: unsteadiness in stance, gait (movement of limbs), voice, hands and eyes, speech, tremors and shivering.

__Stage 2: Sedentary Stage__ Symptoms: no longer walk without help and support, more severe tremors, lose coordination of muscles, outbursts of laughter, depression and mental slowing.

__Stage 3: Terminal Stage__ Symptoms: no longer sit without support, more severe loss of muscle coordination, more severe tremors, slurring of speech, loss of control of bladder and bowels, difficulty swallowing and deep ulcerations. This ultimately leads to death.

Unfortunately, there are not any known treatments or cures at this time. The disease has nearly disappeared. This is because the government has discouraged cannibalism.
 * Standard Treatments:**

Some of the current research that has occurred is that some scientists are checking to see of the disease exists currently. In their study, they discovered that 11 patients still had the disease (Collinge et al 2006). The patients were all from the original tribe. This shows that there is a large incubation period.
 * Current Research:**

There is also current research occurring to provide further data for accurate epidemiological modelling of Kuru to estimate key epidemic parameters. The current research is to also document "mortuary feast" practices by interviewing survivors, to study the clinical features of current patients and to investigate any evidence of maternal or other routes of infection (Collinge 2008).


 * Fig. 2.** The flowchart of how Kuru affects the cells and proteins in the body.

Collinge, John,, et al. "Kuru in the 21st century—an acquired human prion disease with very long incubation periods." // Lancet //. 367.9528 (2006): 2068-2074. Print. .
 * Literature Cited:**

Collinge, John. "some personal reflections Lessons of kuru research: background to recent studies with." // Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society //. 363. (2008): 3689-3696. Print. .

Lewis, Anastasia. "Kuru: Infectious Disease Report ." //Anastasia's Blog //. WPMU DEV -The WordPress Experts, 18 May 2011. Web. 14 May. 2013. .

Mitchum, Rob. "Evolution via Cannibalism: The Case of Kuru." //Science Life //. The University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences, 19 November 2009. Web. 14 May 2013. .