Huntington's+disease

Garrett Pope Period 4 5/15/11

** Huntington’s Disease ** ** Question: What exactly is Huntington’s disease? **

** Answer: **[|Huntington’s disease] is a neurodegenerative that affects muscle coordination. Another name for this disorder is chorea, which means abnormal involuntary body movements. It is caused by a genetic defect on the 4th chromosome. The defect causes a part of the DNA, the CAG repeat, to happen too many times. Normally, the repeat should happen 10 to 35 times. In Huntington’s disease, it happens 36 to 120 times. As the gene is passed down through generations, the CAG repeat tends to get larger and larger. This means that there is a higher chance of developing the disease at a younger age.

**Question: At what age do people most likely develop Huntington’s disease?**

**Answer:** There are 2 forms of Huntington’s disease. The first kind develops between the ages of 30 and 40 and it is called adult-onset. This is the most popular form of Huntington’s disease. The second form of this disease is early-onset. This develops in children between the periods of childhood and adolescents. If one of your parent’s has Huntington’s disease, you have a 50% chance of getting it too. If you get the disease, you have a 50% chance of passing it on to your children. If you do not have the disease, you can not pass it on to your children.

**Question: How does Huntington’s disease show its effect on people?**

**Answer:** Some of [|Huntington’s disease] are antisocial behaviors, hallucinations, irritability, moodiness, restlessness or fidgeting, paranoia, or physochis. Some abnormal movements are head turning to shift eye position, facial movements including grimaces, slow uncontrolled movements, quick sudden jerking of the arms, legs, face, and other body parts, and an unsteady gait. Dementia’s that slowly get worse are loss of memory, loss of judgment, speed changes, personality changes, or disorientation and confusion. Additional symptoms could be anxiety, stress, tension, difficulty swallowing, and speech impairment. Symptoms in children are fidgety, slow movements, and tremor. Complications of this disease are loss of care for self, loss of ability to interact, injury to self and others, increased risk of infection, depression, and death.

**Question: Is Huntington’s disease curable?**

**Answer:** As of now, there is no known way to cure Huntington’s disease. There is also no known way to prevent the disease from getting worse. The current treatment only helps people live more comfortably. For example, haloperidol controls jerky movements. People who have Huntington’s disease have thoughts about suicide and a responsible person should always monitor any person with Huntington’s disease. People with Huntington’s disease die within 15 to 20 years when they receive it.

** Question: How does a doctor diagnose Huntington’s disease? **

**Answer:** If you go to a doctor, he may give you a physical and a neurological exam to see if you have this disease. A CT Scan or MRI may also help to identify the disease and its progression. The doctor may also ask questions concerning your about [|Huntington’s disease].

[|Coronal] section from a [|MR] [|brain scan] of a patient with HD showing [|atrophy] of the heads of the [|caudate nuclei], enlargement of the frontal horns of the [|lateral ventricles] , and generalized cortical atrophy.[|[35]]