| Huntingdon's disease affects roughly 7 in ever 100,000 | | | | The gene for Huntingdon's disease is dominant, which |
| people. It is an inherited disease which starts to exhibit | | | | means you only need one parent with the disease to |
| symptoms between the age of 25 and 55. From the | | | | inherit it yourself. There is a 50 percent chance of a |
| first symptoms, it takes between 10 and 25 years to | | | | parent passing on Huntingdon's disease to their child. |
| completely degenerate. At present, it has no cure. | | | | This makes the late onset of the disease doubly tragic. |
| It is a cruel disease which gradually robs the person of | | | | Often, the person will have started a family before |
| their intellectual abilities. This includes their long and short | | | | they experience the early symptoms. They then have |
| term memory, their thoughts and their ability to | | | | the combined fear of waiting for confirmation that they |
| communicate. It also affects the body and is | | | | have the disease, and the knowledge that their children |
| characterized by violent jerks and twitches. | | | | may be at great risk of Huntingdon's disease |
| The gene which causes Huntindon's disease was | | | | themselves. |
| discovered in 1993. In a specific part of the genetic | | | | By far the greatest incidence of Huntingdon's disease |
| code it repeats the information needlessly. The gene | | | | is in Barranquitas, a small village in Venezuela. Nearly |
| then passes this faulty information onto the huntingtin, | | | | 50 percent of the population are carriers of the gene. |
| the protein produced by the gene. This repeated | | | | That amounts to around 25,000 people. |
| information makes the protein too long to function | | | | There is a genetic test available which can confirm |
| properly. This extra long protein lacks the protection a | | | | whether a person has the disease. There is specialist |
| normal, shorter protein gives to the brain, allowing | | | | counselling on offer for people who have a family |
| deterioration in the frontal lobes and basal ganglia. | | | | history of Huntingdon's disease, who may live in |
| These are the regions of the brain responsible for | | | | constant anxiety that they or their children have |
| higher functioning and movement. | | | | inherited the faulty gene. |