To blog or not to blog that is the question that has
plagued me for the last few months. Health reason have keep me quite, but also
I just don’t seem to have a lot to say. Plus I always feel I should be writing and
working on my stories.
So I thought I would share with you a bit about a disease
that has crippled my Mum for the last few years. (I’ve probably written about
this before so sorry if it is a double up)
George Huntington wrote about an illness Huntington’s
Disease in 1872, although he was not the first to discover the disease. It is
believed Huntington’s dates back to the Middle Ages.
What
Is Huntington's Disease?
It is usually characterised by involuntary movement and
intellectual, emotional and behavioural problems.
It is more common for HD symptoms to appear when a person
is in their mid thirties to late forties. There are however cases where the
disease can develop in childhood or an elderly person. My mum was diagnosed in her
early eighties.
Although treatment and research of HD has improved lately
at this stage there is no cure for the disease.
What
Causes Huntington's Disease?
HD is caused by a defective gene which results in the
gradual destruction of neurons (brain cells), particularly in those parts of
the brain known as the basal ganglia and the cerebral cortex.
This defective gene has a 50/50 percent chance of being
passed on from one generation to the next. This means a child of a HD patient
has a 50/50 chance of getting HD. If that child is also diagnosed with HD at
some point in his or her life the defective gene it will eventually become
active and brain cells in the body's central nervous system will start to die.
This is when a person begins to develop the symptoms of HD. I am one of the
lucky ones and don’t have the gene.
What
Are The Symptoms Of Huntington's Disease (HD)?
Early
Symptoms
The early symptoms of HD may include:
Ø forms
of nervous activity like fidgeting, minor twitching in fingers and toes;
Ø excessive
restlessness;
Ø some
clumsiness;
Ø slight
alterations in handwriting; and
Ø minor
difficulty with normal daily physical skills like driving.
Apart from the physical symptoms of HD, there are often
very subtle intellectual or emotional signs as well, such as:
Ø short-term
memory loss;
Ø less
ability to organise routine tasks or to cope with new situations;
Ø periods
of depression, apathy and irritability; and
Ø impulsiveness.
Of course just because a person has emotional outbursts,
does something clumsy or forgets a task it is not necessarily a sign that they
have HD. These things can be just as easily experienced by a person who does
not have the defective gene at all. (I do that all the time and I’ve been
tested and it came back negative for HD)
Advanced
Symptoms
As HD progresses the early physical, intellectual and
emotional symptoms become more marked.
In many cases the person with HD will develop involuntary
movements like jerks and twitches of the head, neck, arms and legs. Sometimes,
people with HD will develop rigid muscles instead of involuntary movement.
All of these physical symptoms can make walking, speech,
swallowing and other basic tasks more difficult as the disease progresses.
Is
There A Test For Huntington's Disease (HD)?
In a word ‘YES’. But it is a personal choice as to whether
a person wishes to go down that road. At first I had decided not to have the
test, but after awhile I changed my mind and was one of the lucky ones. I can
now go on with my life knowing my children and grandchildren will be safe as HD
does not jump a generation it has to be passed down via a direct line.
More Information.
If you would like more information on HD you can contact Huntington's New South Wales.
Cheers
for now.
Sandie
http://www.huntingtonsnsw.org.au/helping
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