Huntington's Disease

He didn't "discover" it, but he was the first to publish an accurate description of the disease that now bears his name.

He was the son of a physician, and then himself becamse a physician, who had the opportunity to observe several generations of people with the disease, which allwed him to draw conclusions about inheritance as well as symptoms.

No. This is a single gene disorder. If at least one allele has the huntington's mutation, the person will eventually develop the disease.

I've heard numerous answers and I myself can't seem to find any solid answers from researching on the internet.

my suggestion for anyone that is curious is to go on to HDbuzz.net and ask Dr Wild and Dr Carroll. I already have, but the more interest they see the more likely they would be to write about it.

Living as a person at risk for HD, I have personally been donating blood in Canada for the past several years and have not had any problems. It has not been asked about in the screening process and I honestly never even thought about it up until a few days ago. Its obvious that the disease itself can't be passed on as its a Neurological Genetic Condition, but besides that fact I'm uncertain as to what risks could possibly be involved with donating as an untested or HD positive individual

A general decline in thinking skills occurs in essentially everyone with HD. This may begin as general forgetfulness and progress to difficulty gathering thoughts or keeping and using new knowledge.

no

No

Its Passed On From Your Parents Its Inherited

George Huntington who was a young physician, first described the disease in 1872.

Because people with HD are frequently moving, it is thought this continual activity increases metabolic rates and may explain the weight loss. However, the exact cause for weight loss in HD is still not well understood.

since the onset of symptons is later in life, many people with HD will already have had children before learning that they have HD. Having HD is a major factor to many people when deciding whether they want to have children or not.

The address of the Huntington Genealogical And Historic Society is: Po Box 102, Huntington, TX 75949-0102

It is very possible. The onset of symptoms is usually later in life, after a person will have had children.

Mary's parents must be carriers of the hemophilia allele, as neither shows symptoms of the disease but have two affected sons. Therefore, the father's genotype is likely X^H Y (where X^H represents the normal allele) and the mother's genotype is X^H X^h (X^h representing the hemophilia allele). This allows for the possibility of their sons inheriting the X^h allele from their mother, resulting in hemophilia. Thus, the genotypes of Mary's parents are X^H Y for the father and X^H X^h for the mother.

25% will have the disease if both parents carry the gene. 50% will be carriers. 25% will be neither.

Since HD is transmitted by a dominant gene, there are no "carriers", such as in sickle cell anemia. If you have HD, you can pass it along to your children. If you do not have HD, it cannot be passed on.

Huntington's Chorea

you could probably end up getting some sort of cancer

Yes, Huntington's disease is a single gene disorder caused by a mutation in the HTT gene located on chromosome 4. This mutation involves an expansion of CAG repeats, leading to the production of an abnormal form of the huntingtin protein, which causes neurodegeneration. The disorder follows an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern, meaning that an affected individual has a 50% chance of passing the mutation to their offspring.

Family and friends of the person with the disease have an increased risk of poor health, depression, and isolation from others. it is important to talk to someone about it that you trust, so you will not be isolting yourself from others and it helps keep you less depressed.