Symptoms:
- begin with noticable changes in behavior, including aggression, paranoia, and irritibility
- individuals may begin appear restless, with a constant tapping of the feet and odd twitches- this is called chorea.
- they begin to have impaired judgement impaired and an inability to become organized
- as the disease worsens, the patient's IQ begins to decline, which coincides with the damage of the brain. the chorea worsens
- in later stages, the disease may cause depression, anxiety, and apathy ("Huntington's Disease")
- illness typically takes 13-18 years (National Institute of Health)
- patients in later stages need full-time nursing care ("Huntington's Disease")
Treatment:
Genetic Information:
- caused by a single defective gene on chromosome four (BBC health)
- the number of trinucleotide repeats tells you if you have the disease or not:
-
Normal alleles: 26 or fewer CAG repeats
-
Intermediate alleles: 27-35 CAG repeats. An individual with an allele in this range is not at risk of developing symptoms of HD, but may be at risk of having a child with an allele in the HD-causing range.
-
HD-causing alleles: 36 or more CAG repeats. This person would have the symptoms of HD. (Genetests).
Support Groups:
1. International Huntington Association
Callunahof 8
Harfsen, Intl 7217 ST
Phone: 31-573-431595
E-mail: iha@huntington-assoc.com
Web site: http://www.huntington-disease.org
2.
Huntington's Disease Society of America
505 Eighth Ave, Suite 902
New York, N.Y. 10018
Telephone: (212) 242-1968
Toll Free: (800) 345-HDSA (4372)
E-mail: hdsainfo@hdsa.org
Web site: http://www.hdsa.org/
(NIH)
o Introduction of the disease
o Genetic information
o Symptoms
o Treatments and cures
o Appropriate images and pictures
o Contact information for support groups, etc.
In the ever increasing volume of information available on the World Wide Web, it is
important to consider the reliability of your sources. For this project, you may want
to avoid personal websites (although you may use them to obtain personal accounts
of those living with a particular disease).
What is the genetic cause of the disease?
What gene is mutated or chromosome altered?
What is the pattern of inheritance of the disease (dominant or recessive)?
What are the symptoms and characteristics of the disease?
What are the current methods of treatment/cure for the disease?
Human Genetic Disease Project
We have neither given nor recieved any unauthorized aid on this wiki.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/genes/disorders/types.shtml
http://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/GARD/Disease.aspx?PageID=4&diseaseID=6677
http://www.galenet.com/servlet/SciRC?locID=mart90629&bi=SU&bt=Huntington%27s+Disease&c=2&t=1&ste=21&docNum=CV2644031143&st=b&tc=63&tf=0
http://www.genetests.org/query?dz=huntington
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