What Are Huntington's Disease?

Huntington’s Disease is a brain disorder affecting movement, cognition, and emotions (Schoenstadt). It is a genetic disorder generally affecting people in their middle 30s and 40s (Sheth). Worldwide, Huntington’s disease (affects between 3-7 per 100,000 people of European ancestry (Schoenstadt). In the United States alone, 1 in every 30,000 people has Huntington’s disease (Genetic Learning Center). Huntington’s Disease is a multi-faceted disease, with a complex inheritance pattern and a wide range of symptoms. There is also much research being done in the field of Huntington’s disease, because as of 2012, this disease is untreatable. THESIS.

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 begins affecting the organs, it destroys the function of the multiple roles of the nervous system and the brain cells. The disease causes advanced deterioration and loss of brain cells, and contributes to a devastating loss of motor functions followed by advanced cognitive and intellectual impairment.

The three most profound behavioral problems in Huntington 's disease come from the uncontrollable movements called "chorea," dementia, and the altered perception of the

Huntington’s disease is an autosomal, dominant inherited disorder caused by a polyglutamine expansion at the amino-terminal on the huntingtin protein. It causes a progressive degeneration of spiny nerve cells in the striatum and cortex of the brain, impairing a person’s functional and cognitive abilities. Polyglutamine repeats of 36 are found to be non-threating but sequences containing an additional two or three repeats are associated with Huntington’s disease.

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.

In Parkinson's Disease and Huntington's disease the nigra-striatum neural communication assemblage is severely hampered. PD results from a depletion in the amount of dopamine produced by the brain. At the onset of the disease, dopamine-secreting cells of the substania nigra, either because of genetic factors or environmental toxins, experience mass cell death. Thus, the nigra cells are unable to form synapses through which they secrete and relay dopamine to the striatum in a neural circuit within the basal ganglia (18).

Huntington’s disease is caused by a mutation in the gene for a protein called Huntingtin. The genetic mutation results in the building blocks of DNA (cytosine, adenine, and guanine) to be replicated many more times than in an average individual. As a result, Huntington’s disease breaks down brain cells, or neurons, specifically located in the primary motor cortex regions of the brain, but can effect other brain areas

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

One May day in 1956, police in New Jersey stopped a skinny 43-year-old man wandering along the highway (Dobrzynski, 2014). At first glance he appeared to be homeless, they thought his mumblings of being famous were the result being either high or drunk. He proceeded to give them a phone number to reach his manager and realized he wasn’t just famous; he was a folk singing legend. He wrote over 3,000 folk songs, but is most famous for “This Land Is Your Land.” Woody Guthrie was suffering from Huntington's disease, a degenerative neurological disorder, that in the mid 1950’s, the general population knew nothing about. He was soon hospitalized at Greystone Park State Hospital in Morris Plains, New Jersey. His family and friends were there frequently

There are genetic components that are being identified in the diagnoses of mental health disorders associated with Huntington’s disease through human genome and family research. Diagnostic and presymptomatic testing is available by discovering a gene mutation for Huntington Disease (HD) and prepares persons who are at risk for Huntington Disease (HD) to ask for genetic testing. A multi-visit protocol is enacted when HD genetic testing is offered through HD testing centers, followed by education and counseling for those requesting to have HD gene testing. I will use this paper to define Huntington’s disease, chorea, classifications of mental health diseases, and the impact that genetic testing is having on other mental health disorders and the mental health nursing practice.

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

I had heard of Huntington’s disease before I read this book, but I did not really know much about it I know now what a destructive disease it is. The book revolves around two main characters in the book Joe O’Brien who is a police officer, father to four children and husband to Rosie. The second character the book focuses on is the youngest child Katie O’Brien. The read first tells about Joe and how his life starts to unravel due to the disease. The author does a stupendous job describing what Huntington's is through this character by how it affects him physically and mentally. Therefore, destroying each fragment of him a piece at a time. You grow to care about the characters making it an emotional book but, the O’Briens have a special strength

People who have Huntington’s disease are usually in a depressed mood 2. The ratio of experiencing depression elevates twice when the person