More than 35,000 Americans suffer from Huntington’s disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disease.
Eventually, HD destroys a person’s ability to walk, talk, swallow, or have meaningful relationships with friends and family.
Chorea is one of the main problems HD patients deal with—it causes repetitive involuntary movements. The majority (90 percent) of HD patients experience chorea at some point in their illness.
- Early stage HD includes slight changes in gait, concentration, and involuntary movement (chorea).
- Middle stage HD finds the patient experiencing more and more difficulty walking, speaking, and the continuation of cognitive decline. It’s usually during this phase the patient has to stop working.
- In the final stage, the patient is completely dependent on others for all basic care functions because they can no longer walk, talk, swallow, or even recognize loved ones. Death is usually due to infection or other complications of HD, rather than the HD, itself.
If you would like information about HD, contact the Huntington’s Disease Foundation of America. They have been at the forefront in the search for a cure and have championed research for many years.
