Balanchine, co-founder of the New York City Ballet, consulted Dr. Seymour Solomon of Montefiore Hospital for a complete neurological examination. Although Dr. Seymour’s examination revealed no cause, the symptoms continued to worsen. When a fall in November 1982 left Balanchine with four broken ribs and a broken wrist, he checked into Roosevelt Hospital.
Five months later, his condition still undiagnosed, he died. An autopsy of Balanchine’s brain identified his illness. It was Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
CJD Cause and Symptoms
Creutzfeldt-Jakob(CJD) disease is a degenerative brain disorder. It is part of a group of human and animal diseases called Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies. (TSEs).
CJD is caused by abnormal prions that infect and destroy brain tissue. Prions are naturally occurring proteins found in the brains of animals and people, but the prions that cause CJD are malformed. When they enter brain cells, the malformed prions damage other proteins as well, resulting in cell death. As clusters of cells die, the brain becomes riddled with holes, like a sponge.
As the brain deteriorates, the patient experiences the following symptoms:
- Personality changes
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Memory Loss
- Impaired thinking
- Impaired muscle coordination
- Blurred Vision
- Insomnia
- Speech impairment
There is no cure and symptoms progress rapidly, killing most patients within a year.
Effects of CJD on Balanchine
By June 1982 Balanchine was struggling to produce new choreography for his company. He became confused and was forced to let colleagues complete many dances. He began carrying an umbrella to disguise his need for a cane, and secretly grasped the stage curtain during ovations to avoid falling when he bowed. The stage became dimmer and dimmer as his sight faded, until he could no longer watch his own choreography.
After his hospitalization in November 1982, Balanchine became incoherent in English, then his native Russian. He lost the use of his hands and developed problems swallowing. On April 30, 1983, he died of pneumonia - a frequent complication of CJD.
Before Balanchine’s death, most Americans had never heard of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. It would become notorious in the 1990s when several CJD deaths in the United Kingdom were connected to beef consumption.
The CJD contracted from beef consumption is now called Variant CJD (vCJD). George Balanchine died of Classic CJD.
Here are some basic facts about Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease:
- Classic CJD typically strikes adults 50-75 years of age.
- CJD is caused by abnormal prions, not a virus.
- There are multiple forms of CJD, but in 85% of cases, no cause is ever discovered.
- The majority of cases are called Spontaneous or Sporadic CJD - that is, they have no known cause.
- 10-15% of Classic CJD cases are genetic.
- Variant CJD (vCJD) can be contracted from eating beef contaminated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or ‘mad cow disease’), but not everyone who eats such beef will develop CJD.
- Variant CJD is distinct from Classic CJD. vCJD strikes younger patients and is caused by a different type of prion.
- About 200 deaths per year in the United States are attributed to CJD.
Currently there is no treatment for CJD or vCJD. Scientists continue to study these rare and fatal diseases in hopes of a cure.
