Essay On Huntington's Disease

George Huntington first described Huntington’s disease in 1872, but it was only mentioned to the

Huntington's disease is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder. It is passed on to children from one or both parents (though two parents with Huntington's is extraordinarily rare) in an autosomal dominant manner. This is different from autosomal recessive disorder, which requires two altered genes (one from each parent) to inherit the disorder.

Huntington's Disease is a genetic autosomal disorder which effects the brain. It affects about 1 in 20,000 individuals. The symptoms of the disease do not start to occur until after or around 40 years of age. With the onset of the disease the patient starts to gradually deteriorate intellectually, this deterioration also causes involuntary movements. Scientists have only recently found the section of the gene which causes Huntington's disease, and this is allowed them to devise pre-symptomatic tests. However, a cure for the disease is yet to be found.

First, I am not ready to know the future. It may be true that knowing the generic results could help to plan the future like long -term finances, getting married, and having a baby. However, having the test will be interrupt my life, and my mind will be thinking about it all the time. I will not be happy, and I will just waiting for the moment to come. Knowing if the result is positive will be a nightmare, so I prefer to enjoy the life. In the article “Closing the Lion’s Mount: Knowledge and Huntington’s disease”, author Sandra Kostyk quotes a woman who has Huntington 's Disease

Huntington's Disease is a devastating and progressive neurological disorder that resu lts primarily from degeneration of nerve cells deep in the center of the brain. The condition was first described by George Huntington, a physician in New York, in 1872. Even then, the physician recognized the all-encompassing factors of the disorder when describing it as, "coming on gradually but surely, increasing by degrees, and often occupying years in its development until the hapless sufferer is but a quivering wreck of his former self".

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological brain disorder. Brains have neurotransmitters called dopamine and people with Parkinson’s gradually stop producing it. This causes a decline in in their ability to manage their body movements and emotions. Parkinson is classified in 5 stages and its symptoms are also similar to Lewy Body (“What is Parkinson's”). The four main motor symptoms of Dementia are slowness of movement, also called bradykinesia, involuntary shaking, or tremor at rest, stiffness of arms and legs, trouble with balance and falls, also called postural instability, said by the National Parkinson’s Foundation (“Motor Symptoms”). Huntington's is an inherited disease caused by degenerative cells in your brain and spinal cord. Symptoms greatly affect the person's thinking and movement ability. Other symptoms include behavior changes, memory loss, and sometimes obsessive-compulsive behavior. People develop this disease at the early ages of thier 30’s and 40’s but some can develop it as early as their 20’s this is called juvenile Huntington's Disease (“Huntington’s Disease”). Although this paper has discussed the 6 most common forms of dementia there are a few rarer types called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and Korsakoff's

In 2008, the FDA approved tetrabenazine, which is used to help treat chorea. This was the first drug approved to treat symptoms of HD ("Huntington's Disease: Hope Through Research," n.d.). Additionally, the use of antipsychotic drugs are used to help lessen the extremity of involuntary movements and help moderate the individuals temperament ("Huntington's Disease: Hope Through Research," n.d.). In contrast, the use of antipsychotics are not used to help treat dystonia and may actually worsen these symptoms by causing stiffness in movement ("Huntington's Disease: Hope Through Research," n.d.). Many individuals with HD also suffer from depression and may be prescribed fluoxetine, sertraline, or nortriptyline ("Huntington's Disease: Hope Through Research," n.d.). Mood swings and anxiety are controlled with the use of tranquilizers and/or lithium ("Huntington's Disease: Hope Through Research,"

Huntington's disease is an autosomal dominant disorder, which is found on the # 4 chromosome. George Huntington discovered it in 1872. It mainly has an effect on the nervous system. There are around 210,000 bases between D4S180 and D4S127. The disease itself is found in 2% of people in their childhood, and in 5% of the people they were older then 60. (Miller p 16) In the majority of the affected people the disease is detected between the ages of 35-45. In males the disease begins around the time of their childhood. However, in females it begins later in life. This severe symptom has a tendency for the condition to worsen as it is passed on from generation to generation. Huntington’s disease is paternally

(L. Erlenmeyer-Kimling, Nancy E. Miller 275-281) This disease is entirely inherited, there is no way of getting it unless you get the gene for the disease. Huntington’s is an autosomal dominant disorder, which means that you only need to get the abnormal gene from one parent in order for you to inherit the disease. To give more clarification, Mayo Clinic states that “with the exception of genes on the sex chromosomes, a person inherits two copies of every gene — one copy from each parent. A parent with a defective Huntington’s gene could pass along the defective copy of the gene or the healthy copy. Each child in the family, therefore, has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the gene that causes the genetic disorder.” (June 14, 2014) If you have Huntington’s disease and also decide to have children, then your offsprings have a 50/50 chance of getting that illness, kind of like a coin toss in a way. These children usually have a tough decision to make. They lived through Huntington’s with their parents and saw all the hardships they had to go through due to the sickness. Now, they have to decide whether or not they want to be tested for the gene. This test can either lift a huge weight of their chest, or it can be fatal. The testing process for Huntington’s is

The next disease being discussed, Huntington’s Disease, is a hereditary progressive neurodegenerative disorder that can affect the psyche, emotions, and behavior. However, it is most commonly known for the loss of cognitive functioning as well as motor disturbances (Leffler, 2011). Usually the initial signs of Huntington’s Disease starts with jerky movements that can affect various parts of the body (face, arms, legs, etc.) as well as the gradual beginnings of dementia; the memory is usually impaired. There also may be disorientation, or disillusioned ideas of time, place or identity, as well as personality changes and possible increased agitation. Common neurobehavioral changes include: a tendency to blame others for one’s faults, suspiciousness, impulsiveness, constant complaining, lack of self-control, and lack of

Huntington’s Disease is a disorder in the brain that has an impact on the way people talk, think, and move. The disease kills off cells in the part of the brain that controls movements, emotions, and cognitive ability, which is called the basal ganglia. The brain cells of people with Huntington’s Disease build up lots of protein that eventually turn toxic, and cause the cells to die over time. People with this disease can lose up to 25% of their brain cells before they die!

Huntington’s is a fatal progressive disease that is associated with both musculoskeletal and neuromuscular changes which result in abnormal movements, changes in personality, and dementia. Because HD is correlated to chorea, unsteady gait and involuntary random movements, this disease is also known as Huntington’s chorea.¹ This disease has been described as having symptoms associated with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease all at the same time.²

The name Huntington’s disease comes from an American physician, George Huntington (see figure 1), after he was the first person to give an official description of the disease in 1872 (Bhattacharyya, 2016). In Canada alone, more than 21 000 individuals have been affected by Huntington’s Disease, an incurable illness that results in death typically between 15-20 years after diagnosis (Scrivener, 2013). This disease causes both physical and mental changes in an individual, therefore completely changing one’s way of life.

genetic disorder that many are unaware of or oblivious to the detrimental effects it can have on someone. This disease was named after Dr. George Huntington due to his discovery of these weird movements that were found in patients with this disease (Genetic Science). Approximately one in thirty thousand people in the United States currently have this disease in the United States (Genetic Science). For many, that may not be much of a number compared to other cancers and genetic disorder, but considering the detrimental symptoms that greatly shorten one’s life in this disease, it is a serious problem. In fact, patients with Huntington’s have proteins that accumulate in one’s brain, becoming toxic and eventually resulting in cell death

A child born to a person who carries the Huntington's disease gene has a 50 per cent chance of inheriting the gene and developing the disease. People over 18 at risk can take a test to see whether they have inherited this gene. Counselling is available to help the person with Huntington's disease and their family, careers and friends to cope with the result.