huntingtons disease

Huntington 's Disease Historical and Medical Overview

Huntington 's disease is a genetic neurological dis involving abnormal body movements and a lack of coordination . Additionally it had mental and behavioural affects . This disease was one of the first inherited genetic diss on which an accurate test can be performed as the gene for HD was discovered in 1993 (Thomson , A , 1993 Originally individuals with Huntington 's were diagnosed with alcoholism or manic depression , most deaths in the early 20th century were due to starvation or dehydration as individuals were misdiagnosed . Huntington 's

br may have been around before the Middle Ages , due to its abnormal motion it may have been referred to as St . Vitas ' dance . One of the first medical s of this disease was made in Norway in 1860 when it was noted that a remote and secluded area had a high prevalence of dementia with a high pattern of abnormal movements that ran in families In 1872 George Huntington , third generation medical practitioner , whose family shared HD symptoms realized that the conditions were linked and he provided an accurate of the disease (Bates , G , et al 2002 ) Over a hundred years later in the late 1970s the U .S .-Venezuela Huntington 's Disease Collaborative Research Project began which provided the basis for this HD gene 's discovery (Avila Giron , R , 1973 . The discovery of the HD gene occurred in 1993 and was an important beginning step for the human genome project . Since then much research has been done to further understand Huntington 's disease

Of the many medical conditions to investigate , Huntington 's is most interesting as there is a lot of information available on how the disease works genetically and links to physiology . I have not known anyone directly with Huntington 's disease but due to the fact that the gene for this disease is actually dominant , whereas most genetically linked diseases are recessive , Huntington 's disease directly influenced the development and evolution of the genetics field

There are many symptoms involved with Huntington 's and it is found that the symptoms severity ingresses progressively . However symptoms are not always recognized as being caused by Huntington 's until they are considered severe . The physical symptoms , jerky , random and uncontrolled movement , called chorea , are the most common . In the beginning stages of the disease these movements are generally thought to be due to a lack of coordination . As the disease progresses any function that utilizes muscle control will be affected , included stability , facial movements eating movements , walking , and rapid eye movement sleep (Arnulf , I , et al . 2008 . Slow movements and stiffness can develop at the later stages of Huntington 's and are more characteristic of juvenile HD , which can progress to the stage of seizures (Kremer , B , 2002

Besides physical symptoms there are cognitive and psychopathological problems that arise due to Huntington 's . Cognitive abilities become impaired as the disease progresses affecting planning , abstract thinking , initiation actions , perceptual and spatial skills , methods of remembering , short-term memory , and...