An Analysis of Huntington’s Disease

The disease that I have chosen for my research essay is most commonly known as ‘Huntington’s Disease or the scientific name for it which is ‘Huntington's chorea’. Huntington’s disease is a Neurodegenerative disease that progresses over time, causing the death of brain cells usually in Your 30’s to 40’s. Huntington’s disease is hereditary and dominant, so if one parent has Huntington’s disease may inherit it.

Huntington’s disease is named after George Huntington, who discovered it in East Hampton,

Long Island in 1872. In those days, people that had Huntington’s disease were often thought of As devils due to the lack of understanding of the disease. In 1993, a group of investigators

Discovered the gene that revealed the causes of Huntington’s disease.

Huntington’s disease can start to show symptoms at any age, but usually later in life. It varies

Greatly from person to person. Usually, the symptoms start out as very subtle changes, such as Changes in coordination, fidgety movements, trouble thinking through problems, and depression/irritability. It then progresses to move obvious and intense symptoms over time, only.

To result in the inability to walk and speak, and intense fidgety movements

People who are at most risk for this disease are people who have a parent or parents with Huntington’s disease. An offspring of an affected parent has a 50% chance of inheriting the disease. There is no way to prevent Huntington’s when you inherit it, so only the potential parents can avoid passing it on to their future children. This can be done by doing genetic testing prior to conceiving, or doing vitro fertilization.

Someone is diagnosed with Huntington’s disease is mainly diagnosed through basic medical questions and questions about your family history, and tests which will show your motor skills, like reflexes, muscle strength, muscle tone, and coordination. A neurologist will also test your sense of touch, hearing, mental status, memory, mental agility, and language function as so on.

Huntington’s disease is mainly treated by simply controlling the symptoms using medications, speech or language therapy, nutritional support, exercise, and physical therapy.

Using blood samples, genetic testing, and prenatal testing are technological tests involved with diagnosing Huntington’s. These are usually the best methods of discovering the disease.