Huntingtons Disease
Huntington’s disease is named after Dr. George Huntington, who discovered this disease in 1872. It is a genetically programmed disorder of brain cells that causes uncontrolled psychological and physiological behaviors in patients who have this disease. ... The first traces of Huntington’s disease can be traced back to the middle Ages, where one of its earliest names was chorea. ... The name later evolved into “hereditary chorea” noting how the disease was passed from parent to child. Then it became “chronic progressive chorea”, which stresses how symptoms of the disease worsen over time. Today, we use the term Huntington’s disease or simply HD to describe this complex disorder that causes suffering for thousands of families. In the United States alone, about 30,000 people have HD, and at least 150,000 others have a 50 percent chance of developing the disease. ... (1) Until recently, scientists understood very little and could only watch as the disease continued to pass from generation to generation. Families have had to watch the disease destroy their loved one’s ability to feel, think and move.