What Causes Huntington's Disease?
Huntington's disease is caused by a defect in a gene on chromosome number 4. This gene is known as the Huntington disease (HD) gene.
Huntington's disease is almost always an inherited disease, passed from parent to child through a genetic mutation. Each child of a parent with Huntington's disease has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the Huntington disease gene.
If a child does not inherit the Huntington disease gene, he or she will not develop Huntington's disease and cannot pass it to subsequent generations.
A person who inherits the Huntington disease gene will sooner or later develop Huntington's disease. Whether one child inherits the gene has no bearing on whether others will or will not inherit the gene.
Not all cases of Huntington's disease are inherited; 1 to 3 percent of Huntington's disease cases are sporadic, meaning they occur even though there is no family history of HD.
Huntington's Disease Symptoms
Early symptoms of Huntington's disease may include:
- Mood swings
- Depression
- Irritability
- Trouble driving, learning new things, remembering a fact, or making a decision.
As Huntington's disease progresses, concentration on intellectual tasks becomes increasingly difficult, and patients may have difficulty feeding themselves and swallowing.
Some of the Huntington's disease symptoms for juvenile Huntington's disease differ from those of the adult-onset form.
Previous
Add this article to your Favorites
Email this article
Print