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Huntington'S Disease . Our Bodies And The Functions Of

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Huntington 's Disease Our bodies and the functions of our body parts work in cohesion. Some systems include but not limited too cardiovascular, urinary, respiratory, digestive, endocrine, reproductive, and most importantly the nervous system. The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system consist of all the nerves that branch off of the brain and spinal cord. With those systems we have the sensory division and the motor division also stemming from those we have the somatic and autonomic nervous system. For all these systems to work together in unison are cells called neurons. Neurons structure includes the cell body, dendrites which picks up messages and the axons which send…show more content…
In a journal called "Huntington 's Disease," by Joyce Free, she states that "H.D. is an inherited degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. Premature degeneration of nerve tissue in the cerebral cortex and at the basal ganglia from unknown causes. Life expectancy averages 15 years from the time of diagnosis. H.D. usually shows up in the third or fourth decade of life and is insidious: a quiet, gentle person becomes tense with outbursts of temper; an excitable person becomes passive and withdrawn "(1977 p.44). Like Free mentions the part of the nerves that H.D. attacks is happening in the brain. It affects parts of the brain that is meant for motor control. Because of this aggressive attack of the motor segment of the brain behavioral changes will be apparent to the normal eye. Behavioral changes or symptoms observed would include, uncontrolled movements (called chorea), abnormal body postures, and changes in behavior, emotion, judgment, and cognition. Some other mentioned symptoms by Joyce Free would include, "irritability, restlessness, confusion, poor recent memory, impaired judgment, and carelessness may appear. Motor disturbances often show up first as facial tics and progress to distorted grimaces (Joyce Free,p.44). The symptoms do not just show up all at once and the state of the condition is not server instantly, this disease works its way in and becomes progressively worse. Some
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