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Showing posts with label Huntington's disease. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Huntington's disease. Show all posts

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease, chorea, or disorder (HD), is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline and dementia. It typically becomes noticeable in middle age. HD is the most common genetic cause of abnormal involuntary writhing movements called chorea. It is much more common in people of Western European descent than in those of Asian or African ancestry. The disease is caused by an autosomal dominant mutation on either of an individual's two copies of a gene called Huntingtin, which means any child of an affected parent has a 50% risk of inheriting the disease. In the rare situations where both parents have an affected copy, the risk increases