Huntington's Disease (often abbreviated "HD") was first described in medical literature in 1872 by Dr. George Huntington, a physician from Long Island, New York. The disease affects men and women alike, occurring at a rate of about one in every 10,000 in most Western countries. People with HD need dedicated care and support from their loved ones, which makes the number of lives touched by the disease even greater.
The age of onset of Huntington’s Disease is normally between 30 and 50 years old, although there is also a form of HD that affects children and teenagers. People with HD may express a wide variety of symptoms, which physicians typically group into three categories: movement, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms.
Some of the movement symptoms of HD include muscle spasms, tics, rigidity, falling down, difficulty physically producing speech, and, in the later stages of the disease, difficulty swallowing (which can lead to significant weight loss). Uncontrollable movements such as writhing and twisting are also quite common symptoms of HD. Physicians sometimes refer to these uncontrollable movements as “chorea”.
The most significant cognitive symptoms of HD are the altered organization and generally slowed processing of information in the brain. These symptoms can lead to difficulty learning new things, difficulty planning and prioritizing, impairment of one’s perception of space (where one is in relation to tables, walls, etc.), and difficulty “multitasking” (paying attention to several things at once). An adherence to common routines is often seen because these routines are the easiest for the individual to accomplish. Finally, because they have trouble organizing incoming and outgoing words in their brains, many people with HD experience difficulty communicating with others.
Depression is the most common of the psychiatric symptoms of HD. Other symptoms include personality changes, apathy, anxiety, irritability, obsession with certain activities (such as hand-washing), delirium, and mania. Denial of having HD is also a common symptom of the disease.
Sadly, somewhere between 10 and 25 years after symptoms first appear, HD usually takes such a toll on individuals that they die of pneumonia, heart failure, or other complications. |
