Huntington's Disease Research Paper

Huntington’s disease is a brain disorder in which the nerve cells in certain parts of the brain are damaged and can be degenerate. The disease is passed down through families who carry the disease. The disease gene was placed on the chromosome 4 by demonstration of close links to a DNA segment that had been connected to chromosome 4 by somatic cell hybridization. The defect of this causes a part of the DNA, called a CAG repeat, to occur many more times than it is originally supposed to. Symptoms of this disease can affect your mind, body and your emotions. Due to the disease a person has much more less control over some of the movements they make. There are also related disorder called senile chorea. Some individuals in their late 40’s and …show more content…
Some individuals develop the symptoms of Huntington’s disease when they are very young, and also before the ages of twenty. It is also very common when people suffering from the disease are at the ages between twenty and forty years old. A common observation is that the earlier the symptoms can appear, the faster the disease will progresses. Some will also find it hard to keep their body still because of involuntary movement and having difficulty walking, and have a hard time speaking. A person’s thinking ability can and will also be affected due to the disease. Huntington’s disease also effects the behavior of people from getting angry, frustrated and can cause depression, which is very high with the disease. HTT is a gene involved and provides instructions for making a protein called Huntington. Although, it’s unknown it doe play an important role in the nerve cells (neurons) in the brain. The disease can be inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. The chances of getting the disease is due to an affected parent that passes it …show more content…
There have been studies that have shown that there is no cure for Huntington’s disease, there is also no known way from stopping the disease from getting worse. As of now the main goal is to find it early and treatment is to slow the symptoms and help the person function for as long as possible. There are medications that help increase abnormal behaviors and movements. Death can also be a known factor from falling, any types of infection and complication related to the inability of not being able to swallow. Depression and suicide are very common with people suffering from the disease. As the disease progresses, the person will need assistance and may even eventually need 24-hour health care. Therapies that are being tested on animal models have to this date shown benefits for the health of humans and possibly find a cure. The ideal method of the gene therapy has been debated and viral vectors have provided one method of long term and wide spread delivery to the

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