Huntington's disease, also known as Huntington's chorea, is a genetic disease that causes dysfunction of movement, behavior and the ability to communicate. It is a very rare disease, usually starting from 25 to 45 years old, which is progressive, that is, it gradually gets worse.
This disease has no cure, but there are treatment options with drugs to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life, prescribed by the neurologist or psychiatrist, such as antidepressants and anxiolytics, to improve depression and anxiety, or Tetrabenazine, to improve changes in the movement and behavior.
Main symptoms
The symptoms that characterize Huntington's disease are:
- Rapid involuntary movements, called chorea, that begin to be located on a limb of the body, but that, over time, affect various parts of the body. Difficulty walking, speaking and looking, or other changes in movement; Muscle stiffness or tremor; Behavior changes, with depression, suicidal tendency and psychosis; Changes in memory, and difficulties in communicating.
The amount and speed of symptom evolution varies according to each case, and with the treatment or not.
Chorea is a type of movement characterized by being brief, like a spasm, so this disease can often be confused with other situations, such as Sydenham's chorea, which occurs in rheumatic fever, with stroke, Parkinson's or because of side effects of medications, for example, which can also cause similar movements. Understand what are the main causes of tremor in the body.
What causes the disease
Huntington's disease occurs due to a genetic alteration, which is passed on in a hereditary way, and which determines a degeneration of important regions of the brain. The genetic alteration of this disease is of the dominant type, which means that it is enough to inherit the gene from one of the parents to be at risk of developing it.
Thus, the diagnosis can be confirmed by genetic tests, which can also be useful to detect people at risk in the family, if recommended by the doctor.
How the treatment is done
To treat Huntington's disease, it is necessary to follow up with a neurologist and psychiatrist, who will assess the presence of symptoms and guide the use of medications to improve the person's daily life. Thus, some of the medications that can be used are:
- Medicines that control movement changes, such as Tetrabenazine or Amantadine: because they act on neurotransmitters in the brain to control these types of changes; Medicines that control psychosis, such as Clozapine, Quetiapine or Risperidone: help to reduce psychotic symptoms and change in behavior; Antidepressants, such as Sertraline, Citalopram and Mirtazapine: can be used to improve mood and calm people who are very agitated; Mood stabilizers, such as Carbamazepine, Lamotrigine and Valproic acid: are indicated to control behavioral impulses and compulsions.
The use of medicines is not always necessary, being used only in the presence of symptoms that bother the person. In addition, performing rehabilitation activities, such as physical therapy or occupational therapy, are very important to help control symptoms and adapt movements.
