Huntington’s Disease: Symptoms, Causes And Treatment

The Disease has a broad impact on someone’s functional abilities and generally results in cognitive, psychiatric, and movement disorders.
The symptoms of the health disease can develop at any time, but they often appear when a person is in their 30s or 40s.
However, if the health condition appears before the age of 20, then the health condition is known as Juvenile Huntington’s Disease. And when the health condition develops early, the symptoms experienced are different, and the health condition may progress faster than expected.
Though the medications can help manage the symptoms, the treatments cannot prevent the mental, behavourial and physical decline associated with the health condition.
Symptoms of Huntington’s Disease
Movement Disorders
The movement disorder includes both impairments involuntary movements, and involuntary movement issues include:
- Muscle issues
- Writhing movements or involuntary jerking
- Impaired gait, balance, and posture
- Abnormal eye movements
- Difficulty with swallowing or speech
Cognitive Disorders
The cognitive disorders associated with the Disease include:
Psychiatric Disorders
One of the most common symptoms associated with the psychiatric disorder is depression. The other psychiatric symptoms may include:
Other common psychiatric disorders include
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Juvenile Huntington’s Disease symptoms
The beginning and disease progression in the younger ones can be slightly different from adults. The issues or signs and symptoms include
Physical Changes
- Tremors or slight involuntary movements
- Seizures
- Contracted and rigid muscles affecting gait
- Frequent clumsiness or falls
Behavioural changes
- A rapid or significant drop in students overall school performance
- Difficulty paying attention
Causes of Disease
A parent with a defective copy could pass along the gene’s defective copy or the healthy copy. Therefore, each child in the family has a 50 % chance of inheriting the gene, which causes the genetic disorder.
When to see a doctor?
Complications involved!
After the Disease starts, a person’s functional abilities gradually worsen over time. The disease progression and duration vary.
The time from the emergence of Disease to death is generally about 10 to 30 years, and when it comes to Juvenile Huntington’s Disease, it is about ten years after the symptoms develop.
The clinical depression linked with the Disease may augment the suicide risk. Eventually, a person with the Disease needs help with all the daily activities.
Some common causes of death associated with the Disease include
Prevention from Disease
A genetic counsellor will suggest the potential risks. Also, another option for the parents is to remove the Vitro fertilization and preimplantation genetics where the eggs are removed from the ovaries and further fertilized with fathers’ sperm.
Diagnosis of the Disease
Huntington’s Disease’s primary diagnosis is based on the doctors’ questions, the family’s medical history review, a general physical examination, and psychiatric and neurological examinations.
Neuropsychological testing
The neurologist can perform several standardized tests to verify your
- Reasoning
- Memory
- Spatial Reasoning
- Mental agility
- Language skills
Neurological examination
The neurologist may ask simple tests of your
- Sensory symptoms
- Motor symptoms
- Psychiatric symptoms
Psychiatric evaluation
The number of factors that can contribute to the diagnosis of the Disease includes
- Coping skills
- Behaviour patterns
- Emotional state
- Judgment quality
- Evidence of substance abuse
- Disordered thinking signs
Brain function and imaging
The brain function and imaging tests include CT scans or MRI tests to check the detailed images of the brain.
Genetic testing and counselling
If the symptoms suggest the disease, the doctors may recommend genetic testing for the defective genes.
The test can perform the diagnosis and may help identify the health condition early.
Predictive genetic test
Predictive genetic testing can be performed if a person already has a family history of the disease but does not experience any symptoms.
The tests are only to be performed after a genetic counsellor’s consultation.
Treatment of the Disease
As the disease is genetic, no treatments can alter the course, but taking the medications in the early stages can lessen some symptoms and psychiatric disorders associated with the disease. The health conditions treatments involve medications for movement disorders, psychiatric disorders, or other symptoms.
Based on the symptoms, tests and medications are recommended. Psychotherapy, speech therapy, occupational and physical therapies are also a part of the treatments for the Disease. But the treatment completely depends on the symptoms a person is experiencing.
Also, nutrition and eating can help manage health conditions. You gotta be careful about that to lead a healthy life.
Bottom Line!
If you have a family history of the Disease or you think that you are experiencing some of the symptoms mentioned above, the chances are that you gotta see your doctor.
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