Scientists have discovered a rare brain disorder that is caused by prions that are related to Mad Cow Disease, I4U News reports.
The disease resembles the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Experts say that Patients who undergo brain surgery may be vulnerable to this disease. The name of this rare brain disorder is MSA (Multiple System Atrophy).
"Symptoms tend to appear in a person's 50s and advance rapidly over the course of 5 to 10 years, with progressive loss of motor function and eventual confinement to bed," the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, said on its website.
"People with MSA often develop pneumonia in the later stages of the disease and may suddenly die from cardiac or respiratory issues."
"While some of the symptoms of MSA can be treated with medications, currently there are no drugs that are able to slow disease progression and there is no cure."
"MSA includes disorders that historically had been referred to as Shy-Drager syndrome, olivopontocerebellar atrophy, and striatonigral degeneration."
Scientists feel that Misfolded prions that are responsible for CJD and BSE (also known by the simpler name of Mad Cow Disease) may be responsible for MSA as well. The protein called alpha synuclein is the prion that is supposed to cause MSA. However, unlike Mad Cow Disease, MSA does not transmit easily.
