kuru

Friendly

The word "kuru" is a noun that refers to a very serious and rare disease that affects the brain and nervous system. Here’s a simple breakdown to help you understand it better:

Definition:

• Kuru: A progressive disease of the central nervous system. It causes problems with coordination (how you move and balance) and can lead to paralysis (not being able to move parts of the body) and eventually death within about a year after symptoms start. It is believed to be linked to eating the brain tissue of infected people, particularly in certain cultures where cannibalism was practiced.

Usage Instructions:

• "Kuru" is used in medical contexts, so you might hear it in discussions about diseases or health. It’s important to use it carefully, as it refers to a very serious condition.

Example Sentence:

• "The researchers studied kuru to understand more about how it affects the brain and how it was transmitted."

Advanced Usage:

• In scientific and medical discussions, you might encounter terms like "prion disease," which refers to a group of diseases, including kuru, caused by infectious proteins that trigger abnormal folding of normal proteins in the brain.

Word Variants:

• There are no direct variants of the word "kuru" itself, but it is often discussed in the context of "prion diseases," which include several other conditions like mad cow disease.

Different Meanings:

• "Kuru" primarily refers to the disease. It does not have other meanings in English.

Synonyms:

• There are no direct synonyms for "kuru," but it can be grouped with other prion diseases, such as "Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease" and "fatal familial insomnia."

Related Idioms and Phrasal Verbs:

• There are no common idioms or phrasal verbs associated with "kuru," as it is a specific medical term.

Summary:

Kuru is a rare and serious disease of the nervous system, historically linked to cannibalism.

Academic

Noun

1. a progressive disease of the central nervous system marked by increasing lack of coordination and advancing to paralysis and death within a year of the appearance of symptoms; thought to have been transmitted by cannibalistic consumption of diseased brain tissue since the disease virtually disappeared when cannibalism was abandoned