Huntingtons Disease Essay - 1062 Words

Huntingtons Disease Huntingtons disease, also known as Huntingtons chorea is a genetic disorder that usually shows up in someone in their thirties and forties, destroys the mind and body and leads to insanity and death within ten to twenty years. The disease works by degenerating the ganglia (a pair of nerve clusters deep in the brain that controls movement, thought, perception, and memory) and cortex by using energy incorrectly. The brain will starve the neurons (brain cells), and sometimes make them work harder than usual, causing extreme mental stress. The result is jerky, random, uncontrollable, rapid movement such as grimacing of the face, flailing of arms and legs, and other such movement. This is known as chorea. Huntingtons†¦show more content†¦And living the rest of your life in depression. Some 30,000 Americans are currently suffering for this genetic disorder. Named in 1872 for George Huntington the New York Doctor who first wrote down its devestating symtoms, Huntingtons disease up to now was a silent time bomb. 13,000 people, the largest known concentration of sufferers from Huntingtons Disease, live in the Lake Maracaibo region of Venezuela. The origins of this gene pool has been traced back to the 1800s to a woman named Maria Concepcion. It was from blood samples of these people that scientists became extraordinarily lucky and isolated the genetic marker that shows the presence of this disorder. Today, it is believed that Maria obtained the disease when she was birthed by a european sailor. Since it was first recorded by George Huntington, a Long Island doctor, Huntingtons disease had remained fairly low key. No one heard about it until it infected Woodie Guthrie, A famous folk singer from the 1920s who showed symptoms of the disease. In 1967, he died. This put Huntingtons Disease on the map, but it still was not well known. But, before Woodie guthrie died, he had a son, Arlo Guthrie. He, too became a famous folk singer, this time from the Seventies. He became extremely famous, but had to live with the fact that he has a 50% chance of having the disorder. That aroused huge public interest and made the disease well-known. Now that youShow MoreRelatedThe Huntington Disease Essay604 Words   |  3 PagesThis paper discusses one of the most well known neurodegenerative diseases named Huntington’s. Recent statistical records showed that the disease is widely spread around the world. Scientists have conducted many researches in order to study the mode of inheritance of the disease as well as to find a possible cure for it. They discovered that the disease is genetically inherited from one generation to another. 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In Canada alone, more than 21 000 individuals have been affected by Huntington’s Disease, an incurable illness that results in death typically between 15-20 years after diagnosis (Scrivener, 2013). This disease causes both physical and mental changes in an individual, therefore completely changingRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Huntington s Disease1350 Words   |  6 PagesHuntington s Disease Huntington s disease is an inherited neurodegenerative disease that is caused by a mutation on the HTT gene. It typically effects persons in their third to fifth decade of life and can be passed onto their children. Neurons in the brain waste away or degenerate in different areas causing the characterizing symptoms, such as dance-like movements and mental decline. Diagnosis and prognosis can be devastating to both individual and family. However, there are genetic tests thatRead MoreHuntington s Disease And The Nervous System856 Words   |  4 Pages Huntington’s disease, also known as Huntington’s chorea, is a rare pathology among the nervous system. With fewer than 200,000 US cases per year is an inherited condition in which nerve cells in the brain break down over a period of time. This disease will usually start to effect people when they are in their 30s or 40s. Huntington’s usually results in psychiatric symptoms, progressive movement and thinking. No cur e to this disease exists but physical therapy, drugs, and talk therapy can help manage