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Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a subacute central nervous system disorder characterized by a progressive dementia, myoclonus (which is jerky involuntary movements considered to be a type of seizure), and abnormal electroencephalographic and neruopathologic findings.The symptoms start out with vague psychiatric symptoms suggestive of a personality change but within weeks or months, a relentlessly progressive dementia ensues. Though not a common disease, it is the most prevalent of the human spongiform encephalopathies. CJD is closely related to kuru and scrapie. It is believed that the "agent" causing CJD is a "slow virus" or "prion". These agents are resistant to most treatments that destroy most viruses (heat, formaldehyde, radiation). There is no treatment and the disorder is uniformly fatal. Ref: Cecil's Textbook of Medicine, 19th ed., Wyngaarden et al. eds. Delana Vaughan