Huntington's disease


Description

Huntington’s disease is a rare progressive inherited disease that causes degeneration of the brain’s nerve cells. It results in motor, behavioral, cognitive, and psychiatric disturbances, and dementia. It affects middle-aged people (30-50 years). It’s a rare disease with an incidence of 2.7 per 100,000 only worldwide. The disease incidence is equal between men and women, but women usually experience more severe symptoms than men.

Symptoms

Involuntary movements especially in fingers, toes, and face
Impaired walking and balance
Difficulty in talking and swallowing
Muscle rigidity
Difficulty in standing and starting movements
Frequent falls
Depression
Loss of interest in almost all activities
Low self-esteem
Feeling guilty
Suicide
Anxiety and irritability
Difficulty in organizing or planning tasks
Misjudgment that leads to complicated situations
Loss of flexibility in thinking
Language problems
Memory impairment
Sleep disturbances
Weight loss
Visit a Neurologist to be diagnosed and treated properly, If you or one of your family have any of these symptoms


Causes

It’s caused by an inherited gene mutation that is transferred from the parents to their children. It’s a genetic disease that is caused by having only one copy of the mutated gene.

Diagnostics

Diagnosis depends on the presenting symptoms and a parent who has the disease.

Magnetic resonance imaging (a procedure in which magnetic fields are used to produce an image of the brain).
Genetic testing) A test that examines the genes to detect the presence of any abnormal mutations.


Treatment

There is no cure for this condition until now, but some treatment methods can be used to improve the symptoms and quality of life :

Speech therapy : Treatment of people with speech and communication problems by training, to help them to speak more clearly.
Occupational therapy : Treatment that helps patients to improve their motor skills and adapt to their illness by teaching them to do the tasks that are important to their daily lives through special exercises.
Psychotherapy : It’s called talk therapy and encompasses different methods to help in mental illness treatment.
Cognitive behavioral therapy : A type of psychotherapy that teaches the patients how to deal with negative thoughts and behaviors.
Medications :

To control the movement (ex : Tetrabenazone, Amantadine, Riluzole, Clonazepam).
Antipsychotics (ex : Aripiprazole, Clozapine, Quetapine, Olanzapine, Risperidone).

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