A Break-down on The Source of Huntington’s Disease

Huntington’s disease is an incurable, heredity brain disorder. This disorder is caused by an inherited defect in a single gene. For further understanding, the nerve cells become damaged; causing various parts of the brain to deteriorate (dysfunction). Huntington’s disease effects the movement, behavior and cognition. This disease is an autosomal dominant disorder, which means that a person needs only one copy of the defective gene to develop the disorder. Both female and male can get Huntington’s disease because it is a genetic disorder meaning, you inherit the disease from either one of your parents. Therefore, a family has 50% percent chance inheriting the gene that causes the genetic disorder.

The brain is the only organ that is involved in the Huntington’s disease. This disorder affects the individuals’ ability to walk, think, reason and talk. The person eventually becomes entirely reliant on other people for their care. When it comes to Huntington’s disease, symptoms can start to appear at a young age. There are different varieties of symptoms. For example, there are movement and cognitive symptoms. Movement symptoms include involuntary jerking also known as chorea. Muscle problems and slow, abnormal eye movement are also included. Cognitive symptoms include difficulty to organize, prioritize, or focus on task. Lack of impulse control that can result in outbursts, acting without thinking and sexual promiscuity are also symptoms of Huntington’s disease.

There is a diagnostic genetic test that confirms that the detective gene for Huntington’s disease protein is the cause of the symptoms in people with suspected HD. The test can also detect the defective gene in people who don’t yet have symptoms but can be at risk. The person acts as if they had mood swings. Their actions are done without thinking. The disease starts as an infant because Huntington’s disease is a genetic disorder but symptoms can start to appear at an older age. Currently, there is no cure for this disease. Huntington’s disease affects roughly 5-10 out of every 100,000 people. So far, there is no real explanation among scientists about how exactly the disease works, but it’s generally agreed that it all starts with the mutated Huntington protein. The overall mortality rate was 2.27 per million population per year, approximately 80% higher than the corresponding rate for deaths in which Huntington's disease was listed as the underlying cause of death.

This disease has a major emotional, mental, social, and economic impact on the lives of patients, as well as their family. In order to take care, you would have to also be in hands to a family member or close friend because of their compulsive actions. A person with this disease would have to eat soft foods because they often will forget to swallow making them in risk of choking. I believe having Huntington’s disease is an awful lifestyle because you are not able to live a normal life like the rest. This is not a laughing matter because those people that are affected by this disease are fighting everyday for a normal life. I think this disease brings me a depressing mood because often people don’t accept these people for their impulsiveness.