Most people with CJD die within six months after their first symptoms appeared. Often, they die of pneumonia caused by trouble coughing. About 15% of patients survive for two or more years. Some patients have lived 4–5 years with mostly mental symptoms until the disease gets worse and causes more physical symptoms. Once this happens, people usually die within a year.
The symptoms of CJD are caused by the death of more and more of the brain's nerve cells. When scientists look at brain tissue from a CJD patient under a microscope, they can see many tiny holes where whole areas of nerve cells have died.
Doctors may suspect CJD when a person has certain symptoms. For example, dementia usually gets worse slowly. Dementia that gets worse very quickly is unusual. Along with symptoms like jerky movements, these symptoms may point to possible CJD.
Tests can then be done to show whether the person has CJD. These tests include:
As of 2016, there is no treatment that cures CJD or even slows down its effects. Many experiments are being done to try to find treatments.
Today, the only treatments for CJD are medicines that treat the disease's symptoms and help patients be more comfortable. For example, patients who have seizures may be given anticonvulsant medications. Benzodiazepines can make muscle jerks happen less often.
Patients may also choose to have medical procedures to help with bad symptoms. For example, CJD may cause so much trouble swallowing that a person cannot eat. Some people with CJD choose to have a feeding tube put in when they can no longer eat. This is a tube that goes into the stomach, so that special liquid can be given right into the stomach to give the person nutrition.
Samira Khalil
Samira Khalil () is an activist from the Homs region of Syria. She was in prison for four years, from 1987–1991, because she opposed the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria. She disappeared in the city of Douma on December 9, 2013, with activists Razan Zeitouneh, Wael Hamada, and Nazem Hammadi. They are called the "Douma 4".
After prison, Khalil operated a publishing house. Then she worked with families of detainees. She wrote about detention in Syria. Before her kidnapping, she worked to help women in Douma to start small projects to make money. She stayed in Douma to start two centers for women.
Khalil and her husband Yassin al-Haj Saleh were in a documentary film called Baladna Alraheeb (Our Terrible Country). The film was about the period in their lives before Khalil's kidnapping in 2013.
Khalil received the Petra Kelly Prize from the Heinrich Böll Foundation in 2014. This was for her work at the Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria.
The Last Dragonlord
The Last Dragonlord is the first book in a series written by Joanne Bertin. It is a story about Linden Rathan, who is the only Dragonlord (a mythical half-human who can change into a dragon) without a "soultwin" (the other half of his dragon-human soul). The story takes place in a fictional place called Cassori.
Linden Rathan is the last Dragonlord to have been born in more than 600 years. He is sent to mediate a regency debate between Prince Peridaen and Duke Beren. He is sent along with a soultwinned pair named Kief Shaeldar and Tarlna Aurianne, both Dragonlords as well.
Before Linden gets to Cassori, he finds out that one of his friends, Bard Otter Henderson, will be there with him. Linden is teased by Otter about a person who wants to meet him, but he agrees to meet her. The person he meets is Maurynna Kyrissaean, who is also a Dragonlord, but has not Changed yet. Linden finds out that Maurynna is his soultwin after they meet and he begins to show love to her.
During the regency debate, a group called the Fraternity of Blood attacks the Dragonlords. They are trying to learn how to kill all the Dragonlords and let the Truehumans rule. Linden meets one of the members of the group named Sherrine Coltrane. She seduces him into being her lover in order to learn things about the Dragonlords. She falls in love with Linden and attacks his soultwin Maurynna. The attack makes Linden leave her and she poisons him with a farewell chalice.
After Linden is poisoned, he tries to leave. On the road, he is attacked by two people. During his attack, the poison makes him tell the two people secrets about the Dragonlords. Linden's soultwin Maurynna feels his sickness and saves him from the attackers. Linden is very depressed after the attack and refuses to leave his room.
Linden Rathan is the main character of the story. He is the last Dragonlord to have been born for 600 years. He is the target of a plot by the Fraternity of Blood to learn how to destroy the Dragonlords. His soultwin is Maurynna Kyrissaean.
Maurynna Kyrissaean is the soultwin to Linden Rathan. She starts the story as a new captain of a merchant ship that is bringing goods to Cassori. During the story, she Changes from a human into a Dragonlord. Her Change comes very close to killing her.
Otter Henderson is a bard that travels with Maurynna Kyrissaean to Cassori. He is a very old friend of Linden Rathan. He introduces Linden to Maurynna and her family. Otter also protects Maurynna from a woman named Sherrine who attacks Maurynna after Linden stops a relationship between himself and Sherrine.
Sherrine Colraine is the daughter of Anstella Colraine. She is a beautiful woman and a member of the Fraternity of Blood. Sherrine seduces Linden Rathan to learn secrets about the Dragonlords but ends up falling in love with him. After she attacks Maurynna, Linden stops being her lover. She and Linden share a poisoned farewell chalice, but she takes an antidote to be safe. Sherrine kills herself to save Linden and the prince from Kas Althume at the end of the story.
Kas Althume is the steward to Prince Peridaen. He is also a wizard for the Fraternity of Blood. Kas poisons Prince Rann to try to put Prince Peridaen on the Casori throne. He also poisons Linden Rathan using a farewell chalice and tortures him for knowledge about the Dragonlords. Kas is killed when Sherrine Coltraine stops a ritual killing of Prince Rann.
Shan is Linden Rathan's horse. He is a breed that is very smart. He can understand human speech. Shan travels very far to find Linden in Cassori after he was left behind. He helps Linden get better after Linden gets depressed.
Kief Shaeldar and Tarlna Aurianne are a soultwinned pair of Dragonlords sent with Linden Rathan to Cassori. They help Linden get better from a sickness he has after he drinks from a poisoned chalice.
Prince Peridaen is one of the two people fighting to be regent of Cassori. He is a member of the Fraternity of Blood. He tries to win by putting a counterfeit writing in a chest owned by Duke Beren.
Duke Beren is one of the two people fighting to be regent of Cassori. He is related to Prince Rann.
Respiratory tract
In humans, the respiratory tract is the parts of the body that help with respiration (getting oxygen into the body and getting rid of carbon dioxide).
The respiratory tract is divided into two sections: the upper airways and the lower airways. These two sections are separated by the vocal cords.
The upper respiratory tract starts with the nose and the nasal cavity. When a person breathes in through the nose, the air goes into the nasal cavity. The nasal cavity is lined with mucous and little hairs called cilia. These help filter things like dust out of the air a person breathes. The nasal cavity also warms the air.
Next is the pharynx. The pharynx is a common pathway for air and food. When a person breathes in, air goes through the pharynx on its way to the lungs. When a person eats, food passes through the pharynx on its way to the digestive system. There are three parts to the pharynx: