Huntington's Case Study

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.

Huntington’s disease destroys the organs that carry the functions of the central nervous system. Kalat (2013) states, “Huntington disease (also known as Huntington disease or Huntington’s Chorea) is a severe neurological disorder that strikes about 1 person in 10,000 in the United States” (A.B. Young, 1995, p. 258).Individual’s develop the symptoms in their middle age, but even if it is a rare disorders juveniles as well as children before the age of ten can develop the disease. Huntington’s disease is hereditary disease that is passed on from a parent. Huntington’s disease is of the lack of the chromosome 4, if one of the parents carries the gene, they can pass that gene to their

Huntington's Disease (HD) is a disability that will continue to get worse and worse over time. The lifespan for someone living with HD is 10 to 25 years after they are diagnosed and showing symptoms, which is usually around the ages of 30 to 50 ("What Is Huntington's Disease," 2017). These symptoms begin at different times and depend on the individual. Overtime, the person affected will begin to lose their ability to walk, talk, and eat over the course of these 10 to 25 years resulting in the need for 24 hour care.

The disease that I have chosen is Huntington’s disease. Australian Huntingtin’s Disease Association (NSW) says that five in one hundred thousand people have Huntington’s disease. Huntington’s disease is rare in people who descended from Europe, but according to the U.S national library of medicine it is less common in people of “Japanese, Chinese and African decent” to name a few (2017). The symptoms may include: subtle changes in personality and physical skill. The most recognisable symptom is random sporadic movements throughout the body. This is called chorea; this can reduce coordination and cause other minor motor abnormities. This would lead to difficulty chewing, swallowing, speaking, cause unusual facial expressions

Everyone can relate to the pain of having to watch a grandparent or great-grandparent slowly loose their faculties as they advance into older age. Now, imagine if this seemingly slow digression hit hard and fast at only age thirty. The age where one is finally living alone and independent, with the beginnings of a successful career and the hopes of starting a family and settling down. Huntington’s Disease quickly takes all these dreams and ambitions away, along with control of ones body and mind. The symptoms of Huntington’s, such as involuntary muscle jerks or twitches, had been seen throughout history for many years before being first recognized as an inherited disease in 1872 by Dr. George Huntington (“Hope Through Research). “The hereditary

Abstract: Huntington’s Disease- Huntington 's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder. It affects the muscle coordination and decline in cognitive that leads to dementia. It affects both males and females in their middle age (J.D, 2015). Huntington’s disease is most common in genetic causes the leads to abnormal involuntary movement also called Huntington’s chorea (J.D, 2015).

Many of you may not know much about Huntington’s disease. After reading this paper and the subsequent ones to come, you surely will. According to PudMedHealth.com, “Huntington’s disease is a disorder passed down through families in which nerve cells in certain parts of the brain waste away or degenerate.” This can lead to many different complications to a person’s health. In most cases, the disease’s symptoms develop later in life during a person’s mid thirties-forties. There are also instances where the disease becomes on-set in children or during adolescence. The question that I am writing about is the disease itself ,and which symptoms affect you the worst. The reason I chose to write about this disease is because I have always been

Imagine not remembering the names of your family members, having difficulty swallowing, not being able to control your movements. Imagine being trapped in a body that is turning against you, slowly deteriorating around you and you are helpless to stop it. This is the very real and terrifying reality for those with Huntington’s disease. “Many describe the symptoms of HD as having ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s – simultaneously.” This disease isn’t picky, it devastates the families of people from all races or ethnic groups around the world, and a person’s sex isn’t an issue. “Huntington’s disease is a fatal genetic disorder that causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain.” This disease is passed from

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

According to Cunha, (2010) article Huntingtons Disease, there is no treatment to stop Huntington’s disease. The physicians may prescribe a lot of medication to control the emotional and movement problems. The U.S Food and Drug Administration approved tetrabenazine in August 2008 to treat the HD making it the first drug approved in U.S to treat the disease. To help reducing the choreic movements and help to control hallucinations, delusions and violent outburst, use Antipsychotic drugs such as haloperidol or clonazepam. However, the Antipsychotic are not prescribed for other form of muscle contraction called dystonia associated with HD that can worsen the condition causing stiffness. Also, it have a severe side effects including sedation so it should take in lowest doses. Physicians may prescribe fluoxetine, sertraline, nortriptyline for depression. Tranquilizers help to control anxiety and lithium may prescribed to severe mood swings and pathological excitement. Some individuals with HD need medications to treat the obsessive-compulsive. Other drugs used to treat symptoms of HD have side effects such as fatigue, restlessness and hyperexcitability.

The Huntington disease is a type of disease people suffer when they gradually got older, around 30 to 40 years old. It provides instructions for making proteins. The function is unknown, although it plays an important role in the nerves cells, in the brain. HTT mutation causes the Huntington disease and involves a DNA segment known as a CAG trinucleotide. Unfortunately there is no cure for the disease but drugs, physiotherapy and talk therapy can help manage some symptoms.

The Huntington’s Disease is a disease that is an inherited condition in which the nerve cells in the brain break down over time. Huntington’s Disease was discovered in 1967 by Marjorie Guthrie. This disease is caused by the dominant alleles and is a fatal disease, which is followed by a series of medical

Even in my earliest memories of my uncle, Dennis Inman, I cannot recall him ever being still. Dennis had a genetic disorder called Huntington’s Disease, which robbed him of his ability to control his muscle movements. Over the course of my life, I have witnessed him progress from a muscle tic to violent convulsions that wracked his body. For years, my greatest wish in this world was for my uncle to be still, even if it was just for one moment. The day before Christmas Eve of 2016 I got my wish.

There are many studies trying to slow the progression of this disease. There was one study completed in Maryland that aimed to see if the use of lithium carbonate, with or without divalproex, would increase the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the spinal fluid of patients with Huntington’s Disease. Lithium carbonate is used to treat Bipolar Disorder, while divalproex is used to treat mood disorders and seizure disorders. Both have been linked to the increase of BDNF. During the study, participants would have three spinal taps to measure for increases in their BDNF levels. The study was completed in March 2005 and was last updated in 2008, with no results posted.