Huntington’s disease
Huntington's disease is a rare, genetic disease that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain. Huntington's chorea has a wide impact on a person's functional abilities and usually results in movement, thinking (cognitive) and psychiatric disorders. Symptoms of Huntington's chorea usually develop between ages 30 and 50, but they will appear as early as age 2 or as late as 80. The hallmark symptom of Huntington's chorea is uncontrolled movement of the arms, legs, head, face and upper body. Huntington's chorea is caused by a mutation in the gene for a protein called Huntington. The defect causes the cytosine, adenine, and guanine (CAG) building blocks of DNA to repeat more times than is normal. Each child of a parent with HD features a 50-50 chance of inheriting the HD gene.
Stages of Huntington's chorea
- Stage 1: The preclinical stage. In most cases, Huntington's are often officially diagnosed when a person first begins to experience motor symptoms.....
- Stage 2: Early intermediate stage.
- Stage 3: Advanced stage.