Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML)
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a rare and usually fatal viral disease of the brain. PML is an opportunistic disease, and often appears in people with severely weakened immune systems such as patients such who have undergone organ transplants or patients who suffer from cancer or AIDS.
PML is caused by a common virus that is carried by the majority of people called Polyomavirus JC or JC virus. The virus general stays latent until the carrier's immune system has weakened.
The symptoms of PML are marked by clumsiness, progressive weakness, altered vision and speech, and change in personality. These symptoms arise because PML causes a loss of white matter in the brain. This damage to the white matter of the brain can cause different symptoms depending on the area being infected.
If left untreated, PML will result in death. Treatments include a reversal of the immune-deficient state. This can be accomplished by alteration of chemotherapy or immune suppression. In HIV patients, anti-retroviral therapy may be used.
Unfortunately, the chance of recovery for victims of PML is small. For HIV patients, there is approximately a 50 percent change of recovery. For non-AIDS people, there is an 80 percent chance of death within the first 6 months. Survivors of PML can be left with severe and disabling neurological problems.
On February 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that users of a psoriasis drug, Raptiva (efalizumab), may develop progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. This announcement followed the death of 3 patients taking Raptiva. Raptiva is made by Genentech.
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