Huntington's disease (HD) also known as Huntington's chorea, is due to a hereditary genetic metabolism defect. For every child born to a parent with HD, there is a 50% risk of that child inheriting the disease. The Huntington Disease genetic defect causes the build-up of lactic acid within the nerve cells, which then leads to the progressive degeneration of the basal nuclei and cerebral cortex.
The onset of Huntington Disease usually occurs around middle age (although in another form of HD called juvenile HD, the onset can be as young 5 years). Initially the disease is characterized by involuntary jerky movements. Later as the disease progresses, the HD sufferer will have significant mental deterioration.
There is currently no known cure to stop or slow down the brain degeneration and HD is usually fatal within 10 to 20 years. However, research continues and there are currently some good results achieved using fish oils.
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