Huntington+Disease

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= Huntington Disease  = By Danny Kelly and Sam Stack =    =

**__Also known as__**: HD, Huntington's chorea

INTRODUCTION:
Huntington disease is a genetically inherited disease which causes nerve cells in your brain to waste away. Huntington disease is caused by a trinucleotide expansion in the Huntington gene on chromosome four and in an autosomal dominant pattern. In autosomal dominant inherited disease, a single abnormal allele is inherited from one parent. Alleles are the pairs of genes that determine individual characteristics. This disease is more common in people who are between the ages of 30 - 50. As a result of this dysfunction it causes people to have uncontrollable movements, emotional uproars, and mental degeneration. HD is an inherited disease that usually shows up in the middle years of ones life. It was first discovered by George Huntington in 1872 after a group of families who lived in Long Island, New York were diagnosed with a movement disorder. Children who have a parent with the HD gene will have a 50% chance of inheriting HD. People with HD can have mental disablilities whick will prevent them from going to public schools and having jobs as they get older. (1,2,3)

EFFECTS AND SYMPTOMS:
The disease becomes more serious within 15 - 20 years after being diagnosed. The initial symptoms are uncontrolled movements, bad decision making, and loss of balance. The three major types of symptoms are movement, cognitive, and psychiatric. 

- Movement
In the later stages of HD, uncontrollable movements will occur in the feet, fingers, head and trunk. HD becomes serious when someone feels anxious or disturbed. Other types of movement symptoms include the following:
 * **Clumsiness**
 * **Jaw clenching**
 * **Loss of coordination and balance**
 * **Slurred speech**
 * **Swallowing and eating difficulty**
 * **Uncontrolled continual muscular contractions**
 * **  Walking difficulty, stumbling, falling   **

- Cognitive
After a period of time judgement, memory, and other brain functions begin to deteriorate into dementia. As HD progresses into the later stages the abilithy to concentrate for a short period o time becomes difficult. People affected with HD may have diffuculty driving, keeping track of personal belongings, answering questions, and they may lose the ability to recognize familiar things.

- Psychiatric
The early phychiatric symptoms are varied, subtle, and misinterprited or easily overlooked. The most common phychriactic symptom is s depression. Depression develops in the early stages of the disease and the key symptoms are:
 * Hostility/irritability
 * Inability to take pleasure in life (anhedonia)
 * Lack of energy (3)

media type="youtube" key="Dhj2gRvWn3w" height="344" width="425" Here is a few people with HD and how HD effects daily life.

Punnett Square

 * || x || x ||
 * X || Xx- Has HD || Xx- Has HD ||
 * x || xx- Disease Free || xx- Disease Free ||

X= Has HD x=Disease Free (2) 


 

 TREATMENT
 There are a number of medications that help control problems associated with HD. The first drug approved in the United States that treats Huntington's Disease was //tetrabenazine// in August of 2008. The side affects of most drugs used to treat the disease are fatigue, restlessness, or hyperexcitability. Also, people who have HD should maintain physycal fitness as much as possible, because in tests this shows that people with HD and remain physically active do much better than those who do not remain physically active. (3)

PROGNOSIS
Today, there is no way to stop or prevent HD, but now that scientists have located the gene they are able to do research and investigate how the HD gene effects the human body.(4,5)

RESEARCH DONE TODAY
Scientists are using electronic and other technologies to help them find how it affects the brain and the bodies chemistry. Laboratory animals are being bred in the hope of duplicating the HD gene so they can study more about this important and serious matter. The scientists are implanting fetal tissue in the animals with the hope of understanding the defects of HD so they can find a cure as soon as possible.(4,5)

Refrences
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline;">__   1.“Huntington’s Disease.”    __  __  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/  __  ‌  __  medlineplus/  __  ‌  __  huntingtonsdisease.html  __. 23 Sept. 2008. U.S. National Library of Medicine. 8 Jan. 2009

2.<[|http://www.nlm.nih.gov/]‌medlineplus/‌huntingtonsdisease.html>.

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">   3.“Huntington’s Disease/‌.”  __  www.access medicine.com/  __  ‌  __  huntingtons+diseass  __. 6 Jan. 2009. 9 Jan. 2009 < http://www.accessmedicine.com/‌huntingtons+disease>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">     4.“NINDS Huntington’s Disease Information Page.”  __  http://www.ninds.nih.gov/  __  ‌  __  disorders/  __  ‌  __  huntington/  __  ‌  __  huntington.htm  __. 5 Jan. 2009. 8 Jan. 2009

<[|http://www.ninds.nih.gov/]‌disorders/‌huntington/‌huntington.htm>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 5.“Stages of HD.”  __  http://www.hdsa.org/  __  ‌  __  living-with-huntingtons/  __  ‌  __  family-care/  __  ‌  __  stages-of-hd.html  __. 2008. Huntington’s Disease Society of America. 8 Jan. 2009

<[|http://www.hdsa.org/]‌living-with-huntingtons/‌family-care/‌stages-of-hd.html>.