Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Your Eyes Are The Key To Transmission Of A Deadly Brain Disease, Doctors Say

Your Eyes Are The Key To Transmission Of A Deadly Brain Disease, Doctors Say
Photo via Getty Images

This is something you would see on Doctor Who. A fatal brain disease that can spread by contact with the eyes. It's rare, but here's what you should know about Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.


Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is "a rare, incurable neurological disease characterized by a progressive decline in motor control and cognitive ability that leads, ultimately, to a comatose state and death."


Recently scientists have noticed that the disease seeds itself throughout the eyes of patients, so a simple eye test may be able to tell if someone is suffering from the disease. We don't have that eye test yet, but we do know that this disease can spread via contact with a patient's eyes.






It can take up to 30 years for symptoms to present once prions are transmitted, but once they do, it's often only a few months until death.

"Surgeons could unknowingly contaminate their instruments with prions," wrote Christina Sigurdson, a pathologist at the University of California, San Diego, in a new piece of research testing the accuracy of a possible eye test. She also implied that researchers, going forward, would be testing the tears of sJCD patients, in order to see if the prions would be possible to transmit via crying.










The easiest way to stay safe is simply switching equipment from patient to patient, which would require safe equipment disposal. Currently, the only way to detect the disease is through spinal tap, which doctors are hoping will not be the case in a few years.

"[This test] really suggests we could develop a diagnostic, eye-based assay," Sigurdson said.


The closer scientists come to understanding the functionality of the fatal disease, the sooner it looks like they can get to work on some sort of cure. Currently there is no cure or effective treatment, and deterioration is sudden and quick.

H/T: IFL Science, Gizmodo

More from

Tom Holland and Zendaya
James Devaney/GC Images

Tom Holland Swiftly Corrects Reporter Who Called Zendaya His 'Girlfriend'—And Fans Are Obsessed

Some love is quiet and unassuming, known mostly to those in love and few else.

Actors Tom Holland and Zendaya have been largely quiet about their engagement, but when the Spider-Man actor appeared recently at a press event, he was more forthcoming about his relationship status.

Keep ReadingShow less
Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel on each other's shows
@jimmykimmel/Threads

Jimmy Kimmel And Stephen Colbert Unload On Trump In Rare Crossover Event As Guests On Each Other's Shows

Late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert were each other's guests in a special crossover event on Tuesday and took the opportunity to call out "son of a b*tch" President Donald Trump, who has used his influence in attempts to silence them for criticizing him and his MAGA movement on the air.

Last week, ABC announced it would end its suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! just a week after Trump pushed to get host Jimmy Kimmel off the air following comments Kimmel made about the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk. ABC had had internal discussions with Disney, which saw a wave of subscriber cancellations in the wake of Kimmel's suspension.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tina Turner
Christian Charisius/picture alliance via Getty Images

A Massive Sculpture Of Tina Turner Was Just Unveiled—And It's Going Viral For All The Wrong Reasons

When it comes to entertainment legends, the late singer Tina Turner is right at the top of the pantheon.

And fittingly, the songstress' hometown of Brownsville, Tennessee, wanted to pay tribute to her legacy with giant statue of the icon.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz; Marjorie Taylor Greene
(L-R) Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Ted Cruz Clashes With 'Crazy' MTG Over Her Cryptic Post Alluding That 'The Jews' Are Trying To Kill Her

Texas MAGA Republican Senator Rafael "Ted" Cruz raised eyebrows when he attacked Georgia QAnon/MAGA Republican Representative and conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG) for being antisemitic.

MTG has promoted some antisemitic conspiracy theories in the past, like Jewish space lasers that control the weather or start wildfires, but this time people are calling Cruz out for reaching in an attempt to discredit the Georgia Republican and protect Trump from what's being concealed in FBI, Department of Justice, and court records relating to the indictment of Jeffrey Epstein on charges of sex trafficking of minors.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Screenshot of Zohran Mamdani; Donald Trump
CNN; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Zohran Mamdani Claps Back After Trump Threatens To Withhold Federal Funding To NYC If He Becomes Mayor

Zohran Mamdani—the Democratic Socialist New York City mayoral candidate who stunned the establishment with a seismic win for progressives that has reverberated across the country—criticized President Donald Trump's threats to withhold federal funds if Mamdani wins November's election.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump called Mamdani a "New York City Communist" and said he "will prove to be one of the best things to ever happen to our great Republican Party."

Keep ReadingShow less