Huntington's Disease Research Paper

Huntington’s is a disease that is caused by a genetic defect on chromosome 4. This defect causes the CAG repeat to occur more than it’s supposed to. This section of DNA is repeated 10 to 28 times in a normal person but a person with Huntington’s it’s repeated anywhere from 36 to 120 times, depending on how severely their affected. This is an inherited disease that causes a progressive degeneration of the nerve cells in the brain which affects many aspects of a person such as their behavior, movements, cognitive thinking, and causes several other problems.

HD is an autosomal dominant disease so if one of your parents have it, then you have a fifty percent change of getting the gene. If you do get the gene then your children are equally as likely to get it, assuming your significant other doesn’t have the gene also. If you don’t get the gene from your parents, however; then you can’t pass it on. Since it is an autosomal disease you will either get it or not, you can’t be a carrier. As the gene is passed down, the number of repeats gets larger. The larger the number of repeats, the higher your chance of developing symptoms at a younger age and the more severely you will be affected. So the more the disease is passed on, the younger symptoms will develop. There are two forms of Huntington’s disease; the first

The goal of getting treatment, however; is to slow down the progression and worsening of symptoms to help the person function as long as possible. There are medicines that can help. Dopamine blockers can help reduce abnormal behaviors and movements while drugs like amantadine and tetrabenazine can be used to try to control extra movements. People with this disease generally die within 15-20 years, or around 10 years for children. The cause of death is often an infection, like pneumonia, injuries related to falls, troubles involving the inability to swallow, and often