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Bio Essay: Treatments of neurological disorders (Huntington’s Chorea)
In the world we live in, we are vulnerable to any number of neurological disorders. One such disease is Huntington’s Chorea. Progressive and degenerative, Huntington’s causes the one’s nerve cells in the brain to waste away. This causes personality changes such as depression and anger, decrease of cognitive abilities such as learning new information, involuntary facial movements and seizures in the early stages. Later symptoms include chorea which is involuntary movements like sudden jerks throughout the body, slurred speech, dementia and many more. (Mayo clinic, n.d) ref to one world factors
Figure1: how hunting ton’s is inherited.
(Collins, n.d)
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Figure 2: Picture of the brain
(CNS forum 2002)
Huntington’s is a genetic and autosomal dominant inherited disease; meaning that it is not affected 23rd chromosome also known as the sex chromosome. This indicates that if one has any parent with Huntington’s (female or male), they have a 50% chance of contracting the disease which can be seen in Figure 1. (Collins, n.d) . An irregular expansion of a reciprocated area of the DNA sequences of the gene is the result of the Huntingtin gene. That particular area encodes the amino acid glutamine. (healthtree, n.d) In a normal, healthy person; one has a string of 9 to 39 glutamines. But due to the irregular expansion of the Huntingtin gene, people with Huntington 's have 36 - 121 glutamines; well above the normal range. Due to the extreme size of this area, it makes the Huntingtin protein more unstable and turns the area into an abnormal shape. (healthtree, n.d)Though we know the genetics behind it, it is still a mystery why this Huntingtin protein causing neuron death in the striatum, the substantia nigra and the hypothalamus of the brain which can be seen in Figure 2 (look at yellow boxes). (healthtree, n.d)Due to the nature of the disease being
References: 3. CNSforum (2002) Distribution of dopamine D1–D5 receptors in normal brain http://www.cnsforum.com/imagebank/item/hrl_rcpt_sys_DA_dist/default.aspx Retrieved: 15th Feb 2011 4