Disease Information for Whipples CNS disease/encephalopathy

Whipple"s disease is a multi-system infectious bacterial disease that interferes with the body"s ability to metabolize fats; The disorder can affect any system in the body, including the central nervous system, but usually occurs in the gastrointestinal system; Gastrointestinal symptoms may include diarrhea, weight loss, fatigue, weakness, and abdominal bleeding and pain; Neurological symptoms may include abnormalities of eye and facial muscle movements, confusion, seizures, ataxia, memory loss, and vision impairment; Fever, cough, and joint soreness may also be present; The standard treatment for Whipple"s disease is a prolonged course of antibiotics; Untreated, Whipple"s disease is fatal;

----------[NINDS_com 2005]---------- Fever, lymphadenopathy, arthralgias; Weight loss, malabsorption, chronic diarrhea; Duodenal biopsy with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive macrophages with characteristic bacillus; Whipple"s disease is a rare multisystemic illness caused by infection with the bacillus Tropheryma whippelii; It may occur at any age but most commonly affects white men in the fourth to sixth decades; The source of infection is unknown, but no cases of human-to-human spread have been documented; The clinical manifestations are protean; Arthralgias or a migratory, nondeforming arthritis occurs in 80% and is typically the first symptom experienced; Gastrointestinal symptoms occur in approximately 75% of cases; They include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and some degree of malabsorption with distention, flatulence, and steatorrhea; Weight loss is the most common presenting symptom—seen in almost all patients-----------

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