Essay on Understanding Huntingtons Disease - 2054 Words

Understanding Huntingtons Disease Huntingtons disease is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder. It is passed on to children from one or both parents (though two parents with Huntingtons 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. So if one parent has it, and passes the gene on to a child, that child will develop Huntingtons disease if they live long enough and each of that childs children will have a 50% chance of inheriting the gene, and so on and so forth. If you do not have the HD gene you cant pass it on to your children and if your mate doesnt have it then there is no way†¦show more content†¦It tends to lessen in the later stages. When the disease occurs in childhood (less than 10% of cases) Chorea is more severe and may coincide with rigidity or muscle stiffness and movement restriction. Both chorea and rigidity interfere with coordination and mobility. Changes in mood are not readily noticeable as they are slow to manifest and can be interpreted as something else (i.e. HD causes depression but so does our society so this symptom often gets overlooked) Anxiety, irritability, rage, mania, and psychosis are also common symptoms. Cognition (the mental process characterized by thinking, learning, and judging) is affected early in the disease and gets worse over time. Individuals will have problems with math, memory, judgment and verbal fluency. It is very difficult for someone with HD to learn a new task, especially in the later stages of development. There currently is neither a cure nor FDA approved medical treatment for Huntingtons disease. The life expectancy is 15 -- 20 years after development begins, and though Huntingtons itself doesnt directly kill the individual, it causes so many functional breakdowns in the body that the person can no longer perform basic physical operations such as swallowing and as such a common cause of death is choking or respitory infection. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Huntington disease is caused by the expansion of aShow MoreRelated Understanding Huntingtons Disease Essay1032 Words   |  5 PagesUnderstanding Huntingtons Disease Diagnosis of Huntingtons Disease Today, a blood test is available to diagnose a person displaying suspected Huntingtons symptoms. The test analyzes DNA in the blood sample and counts the number of times the genetic code for the mutated Huntingtons gene is repeated. Individuals with Huntingtons Disease usually have 40 or more such repeats; those without it, 28 or fewer. If the number of repeats falls somewhere in between then more extensive neurologicalRead MoreResearch Paper on Huntingtons Disease1268 Words   |  6 PagesHuntington’s disease is a hereditary brain disorder that is progressive in neurodegeneration; which means, there is a loss of function and structures of one’s neurons. In the long run it results in the loss of both mental and physical control. The disease affects muscle coordination, cognition and behavior. It used to be known as Huntington’s chorea because it is the most common genetic disease that is the cause of abnormal twitching. Huntington s has an intense effect on pati ents, as individualsRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Huntington s Disease1263 Words   |  6 Pages The name Huntington’s disease comes from an American physician, George Huntington (see figure 1), after he was the first person to give an official description of the disease in 1872 (Bhattacharyya, 2016). 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There are also instances where the disease becomes on-setRead MoreEssay about Huntingtons Disease1557 Words   |  7 PagesHuntington’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 rangeRead MoreEssay on Huntingtons Disease - An Overview1185 Words   |  5 PagesHuntingtons Disease - An Overview Huntingtons 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 developmentRead More Fetal Neural Transplantation in the Treatment of Parkinsons and Huntington1532 Words   |  7 PagesTwo Diseases, One Hope: Fetal Neural Transplantation in the Treatment of Parkinsons and Huntingtons Disease Parkinsons Disease (PD) and Huntingtons Disease (HD) are neurodegenerative diseases that are caused by malfunctions within the motor sector of the nervous system. These malfunctions, which are caused either by the surplus (as in HD) or absence (as in PD) of hormones, are a direct result of neural cell deterioration within the brain. PD and HD illustrate two very different behavioralRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Huntington s Disease2653 Words   |  11 PagesHuntington’s disease INTRODUCTION AIM The aim of this project is to discuss the various components that shape Huntington’s disease. The efficiency of this paper will depend heavily on a brief but, comprehensive examination of past and future research that may offer plausible suggestions and explanations to the following four subtopics; the history of Huntington’s disease, anticipation and genetic markers of Huntington’s disease, symptoms and treatment of Huntington’s disease and finally livingRead MoreNew Techniques of Genetic Engineering1187 Words   |  5 PagesNew techniques of genetic engineering have spawned a new understanding of medical procedures and have increased biotechnology products that help us answer questions and solve problems that just one generation couldn’t dream of doing. We have taken Caution at every step during the process of creating biotechnology and genetic engineering procedures they have a huge potential impact. But today we have to decide to which degree t hese procedures and products be regulated and who gets the power to doRead MoreHuntington s Disease Is A Rare Progressive Genetic Disorder2026 Words   |  9 PagesHuntington s Chorea or Huntington s Disease is a rare progressive genetic disorder which afflicts roughly 7 out of every 100,000 people in North America (Rawlins, 2016, pp. 144–153). The disease manifests primarily in tissues of the brain, and affects the shutdown of many primary functions including speech, movement, and cognitive abilities. With a strong genetic component, there is a 50% chance of just one parent passing the gene linked with Huntington s Disease along to offspring; additionally,