Symptoms Of Huntingtons Disease

Symptoms Of Huntingtons Disease
Huntington's disease is genetic disease named after a 19th century physician. It is an inherited disease; which affects the central nervous system, its manifestation being the loss of cognitive and motor functions of the body. It is brought about by the inheritance of a faulty gene; which takes approximately three or four decades to show. It is mainly found in adults, although young people are developing it nowadays. It is difficult to arrest this gene in an early stage since there are no symptoms of the disease in the early stages of one's life. The symptoms may develop much earlier but they are most of the time treated as symptoms of other illness, rather than Huntington's disease. It can be only be managed as there is no known cure of the disease.

It has physical and psychological symptoms. A person exhibiting the symptoms of Huntington's disease suddenly becomes slow and clumsy in physical movements. He may later develop schizophrenia and memory loss. The slow and clumsy movements may not seem as symptoms of anything to the average person and the chances of overlooking it are high. It may be thought to be a manifestation of low self esteem or shyness. There is less and less control of motor movements as the disease progresses. With time, a person with Huntington's disease will find it hard to keep a straight posture. The speech becomes affected and he can no longer control the pitch of his voice

Huntington's disease impairs the mind of the sufferer and the longer he has been suffering the more the mental impairment. He does not have memory and cannot comprehend simple things. This is where the person with Huntington's disease becomes totally reliant on other persons. He needs assistance in everything. Depression and irritability sets in as the person can no longer do things that he used to do for himself. These are irreversible, and get worse as the disease progresses.

It is easier to diagnose the disease now than ever before by looking at the genetic history of a person. Since it is inherited, a person will be predisposed to Huntington's disease if a family member had the disease. It has no prevention or cure and management of the Huntington's disease has it own unique challenges. Tranquilizers are used to control the uncontrollable jerking movements. Speech and occupational therapies help preserve some functions of the body as the disease progresses.