Main Entry: Creutz·feldt–Ja·kob disease

Variant(s): also Creutz·feld–Ja·kob disease \ˌkrȯits-ˌfelt-ˌyä-(ˌ)kōb-\

Function: noun

: a rare progressive fatal prion disease marked by the development of porous brain tissue, premature dementia in middle age, and gradual loss of muscular coordination—abbreviation CJD; called also Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease; see variant creutzfeldt-jakob disease

Creutz·feldt \ˈkroits-ˌfelt\ Hans Gerhard (1885–1964), and Ja·kob \ˈyä-ˌkōp\ Alfons Maria (1884–1931), German psychiatrists. Creutzfeldt published his description of the disease now known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in 1920. A year later in the same neurological journal Jakob offered his description. Although Creutzfeldt's description is the original one, Jakob's is the better known of the two, so the disease is named in honor of both men.