title: Ethical issues in human prion diseases.
abstract: Prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are a group of closely related transmissible neurodegenerative conditions of humans and animals, all of which are incurable. In recent years, they have captured public attention with the emergence of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic in Europe, and more recently with the appearance of variant CJD (vCJD) in humans, a novel form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) that is linked to dietary exposure to BSE. In this chapter, we outline ethical questions posed by research, diagnostic procedures and therapy in the field of prion diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurodegenerative Disease/MRC Prion Unit, Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tabrizi
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weissmann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000682:Amyloid / Q000235:genetics; D035041:Anonymous Testing / Q000941:ethics; D001065:Appendix / Q000737:chemistry; D002648:Child; D004032:Diet; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D005260:Female; D030342:Genetic Diseases, Inborn; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000941:ethics; D006720:Homozygote; D006805:Human Experimentation / Q000941:ethics; D006801:Humans; D007883:Legislation, Medical; D008297:Male; D008715:Methionine / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000737:chemistry; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D019836:Preimplantation Diagnosis / Q000941:ethics; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D000072002:Prion Proteins; D011328:Prions; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000941:ethics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid; C512656:PRNP protein, human; D018620:PrPSc Proteins; D000072002:Prion Proteins; D011328:Prions; D011498:Protein Precursors; D008715:Methionine