Huntingtons Disease

In one to three percent of Huntingtons Disease patients, have no family history of HD (HuntingtonsDisease1). Huntington’s disease is a very inconvenient and frustrating disease, scientists are trying to create treatments and a cure for Huntington’s disease. The one problem with finding a cure is the lack of funding, with your help though, there is hope. HD dose not have a cure, but knowing what it is, the history, current treatment, may help scientists find a cure and provide more funding for research. “The word chorea comes to us from the Greek, by way of Latin means Dance” (HuntingtonsDisease 1). Chorea describes the out of control movements that Huntington’s disease causes. These muscle spasms sometimes lead to seizures. This is an effect of Huntingtons disease, also known as Chorea or HD. “The Disorder was named after George Huntington who, based on the observation of patients from his fathers practice in Long Island published in 1872, at the medical and surgical reporter, a detailed description of the disease and symptoms”( Rego A. Christinade Almita, Luis Pereira1). George Huntington is one of the most well known contributors to the Research of HD. He gave it the name, and also did a lot of research into it.“During that same year (1972) Thomas L. Perry Discovered lower levels of GABA in the brains of HD patients. GABA is the hormone that regulates levels of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is the chemical in the brain that controls movement, balance, and walking”( Knowles pg 13). This is known to be the cause of the unusual movements caused by HD; however, this is an effect of HD not the cause. Actually this is an affect of HD. “Huntington’s disease was both concisely and succinctly described as a specific disease entity in 1872 by George Huntington” (HuntingtonsDisease 1). George Huntington decided he was going to publish his finding to classify it as a disease. “Several reports before 1872 describe movement that later authors attribute to

Cited: Rego A. Christiade Almeida, Luis Percira. “molecular targets and therapeutic strategies in huntingtons disease” Current drug targets- CNS & neurological disorders 4.4 (2005): 361-381. A.P. Source. Web. 20 march. 2012 “Huntintons Disease” Medicine plus