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 …show more content…
After his discovery he then wrote a paper called On Chorea. His paper was later published in the Medical and Surgical Reporter of Philadelphia and the disorder he described became known as Huntington's Chorea (Phillips, 2001). "Chorea" comes from the Latin and Greek words meaning chorus or a group of dances (Phillips, 2001). It is defined in today’s terms as “any of various nervous disorders (as of humans or dogs) marked by spasmodic movements of limbs and facial muscles and by incoordination (Merrium-webster).” The term was given to many so-called "dancing disorders" that became noticed in the Middle Ages. In those days, people with chorea suffered from involuntary muscle jerks and twitches that are known to be symptomatic of HD (Phillips, 2001). During The Salem Witch Trials that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, some of the “witches” are now believed to have had HD. Their choreic movements and odd behavior were seen as possession by the devil (Jourin, 2005). Today the term Huntington's disease is more commonly used than Huntington's Chorea. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this hereditary disease was poorly understood because people who had the HD gene died before the symptoms could develop (Phillips, 2001). Now that we live longer, the HD gene has more time to reveal itself. (Phillips,
Woody Guthrie was a folk singer who became famous for his phenomenal song “This Land is Your land”. To us Americans, that song is like an anthem to us. The songs purpose is to explain to everyone that USA is for everybody, not just for some people. Woody wrote thousands of songs. He also said a famous extemporaneous quote that inspired many people to never give up, even when someone is getting to you.
This quote explains that Guthrie’s life was hard. Guthrie wrote his most famous song “This Land is Your Land” in New York City. Guthrie’s songs were a pick-me-up for the nation at this horrible
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 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".
Woody Guthrie was a singer/songwriter/musician who wrote nearly 3000 songs. His most famous song, “This Land is Your Land,” was written in 1940. I learned to sing it in grade school as did countless children since the 1940s. Guthrie wrote it because he was tired of the radio overplaying Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." He thought Berlin’s song was unrealistic and complacent (Woody Guthrie). One of Guthrie’s most notable traits as a songwriter was his capacity to connect his audience to their heritage and the land.
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
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 is an inherited disease that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain. Huntington's disease has a broad impact on a person's functional abilities and usually results in movement, thinking (cognitive) and psychiatric disorders.
Woody Guthrie wrote lots of songs. One of his most famous songs by far is this Land is Your Land. He wrote this sometime in the 1940s, he played it all over the USA. He wrote this song because he wanted to tell people that the land belonged to everybody not just one single person. In this essay I will compare two famous songs/quotes by Woody Guthrie.
2. “What Is Huntington's Disease?” Huntington’s Disease Society of America What Is HD, Huntington's Disease Society of America, hdsa.org/what-is-hd/.
Huntington’s Disease is a genetic disorder characterized by the arrival of symptoms late in life, usually in the 30s or 40s. It is an autosomal dominant disorder, which includes nerve cells breaking down in the brain. There are both movement and cognitive symptoms related to this disease. Some movement symptoms are unintentional jolting, delayed eye movements, and a compromised manner of walking. Some cognitive symptoms are trouble organizing responsibilities, a deficiency of cognizance of one’s own actions and capabilities, and a difficulty in understanding fresh material. There are also psychiatric disorders associated with Huntington’s disease: depression, obsessive compulsion disorder, and mania. Huntington’s disease results from a mutation
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
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.
Huntington's disease is a genetic disease that causes nerve cells in the brain to deteriorate over time, leading patients to suffer from involuntary movements, emotional disturbances, and cognitive decline. The disease is caused by the mutation of a single gene located on chromosome four. The faulty gene, which codes for a protein called huntingtin, can have anywhere from thirty to fifty more repeats of the CAG codon than a healthy gene. The function of huntingtin is unknown, but an over-abundance of it is confirmed to be the cause of Huntington's disease. Genetic testing and diagnosis for Huntington's disease usually focuses on analyzing blood tests from both the individual and a family member to count the number of CAG repeats encoded in
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.