Taking a Closer Look at Huntington's Disease

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“Huntington's disease (HD) is the result of a genetically programmed degeneration of brain cells, called neurons, in certain areas of the brain” (NINDS). The condition has been named after George Huntington, the finding physician who first discovered ands defined it in the late 1800s.The flawed gene code shows a blueprint for a protein called huntingtin (Huntington's Disease). This protein’s role is not yet known, but it's called "huntingtin" do to the doctors that linked it as a defective form and the cause of Huntington's disease. The faulty huntingtin protein leads to changes in the brains functional process, this genetic anomaly which is caused by a defect in the gene of chromosome 4. The imperfection creates a part of DNA, called a “CAG trinucleotide repeat” to occur more times than normal. This section of DNA would normally repeat ten to twenty eight times. Huntington disease carriers on the other hand show it repeated thirty six to one hundred and twenty times” (A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia). Those with Huntington disease will develop spontaneous jolting or jerking movements identified as chorea (Huntington disease. 2014.).
The degeneration of these cells causes uncontrollable actions, a loss of rational abilities, and emotional disorders. Huntington disease is hereditary, which means it is passed from the host parent (father or Mother) to the child by way of a mutation in a gene. Every child with Huntington disease parents has a fifty-fifty chance of receiving the Huntington disease gene (NINDS). In children who do not inherit the gene will not develop the mutation and will not pass it on to following generations. Children born that do inherit the Huntington disease mutation gene will sooner or later develop the disease...

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Huntington's Disease Research at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. (n.d.). Huntington's Disease Research at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Retrieved May 25, 2014, from http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/psychiatry

NINDS Huntington's Disease Information Page. (n.d.). Huntington's Disease Information Page: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Retrieved May 22, 2014, from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/huntington

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