Huntington's Disease
A Genetic Disorder
What is Huntington's Disease?
Huntington's Disease is an inherited disease that breaks down the nerve cells in the brain. THis disease strongly impacts a person's fucntional abilities and causes movement, thinking, and psychiatric disordes. A mutation in HTT gene is what causes this disease to occur. This disease does not just affect certain people in the population. Anyone can inherit this disease as long as it runs in the family.
Symptoms
The most common symptom that occurs is movement disorders which include difficulty swallowing, impaired gait, posture and blance, muslce rigidity, etc. Cognitve disorders can occur too. These include loss of thought, inability to start a task, lack of impulse control, and difficulty learning new information. And last psychiatric disorders can occur. These include depression, reduced sex drive, changes in appetite, social withdrawl and frequent thought of suicide.
Autosomal Dominance
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/whataregd/hunt/
Neurons
http://images.sciencedaily.com/2009/11/091115134134-large.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington's_disease
Children with this Disease
Huntington's disease occurs mainly in adults but can sometimes occur in children. Children with this disease have symtoms such as, Loss of previously learned academic or physical skills, drop in school performance, behavioral issues, rigid muscles, changes in motor skills, tremors, and siezures. All these symptoms can be slightly monitored by medications by can never be cured.
Prevention, Cures, and Medical Assistance
This disease has no cure. Once you have you will have it for life. There are medicines that can help with the symptoms and it can somewhat be prevented. If a person is planning to have a child and they have Huntington's disease in their background they can have genetic testing done to ensure that their baby will not inherit the disease. Genetical engineering can also be done where the eggs are taken from the mother and the sperm is taken from the father and but together to make embryos. The doctors then take the embryos that do not have the gene for Huntington's disease and place it back in the mother.
Sources
Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Definition." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 05 May 2011. Web. 29 May 2013.
"Huntington Disease | Disease | Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR-NCATS)." Huntington Disease | Disease | Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR-NCATS). N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2013.