Huntington's disease is an heredity illness which effects the brain. It occurs when a person inherits a faulty copy of a particular gene.Every person has two copies of every gene,one of with they receive from their mother,and one from their father.A person with Huntington's disease (HD) has one copy of the gene which is normal size, and one copy which is enlarged.The faulty gene causes certain brain cells to die.
If a person has a parent with HD they are born with a 50% risk of inheriting the disease.This means they have just as much of a chance of not inheriting the gene as they have of inheriting it.Every child with a parent with HD has the same chance.
Many people wonder if they have inherited HD.There is a genetic test which will answer that question.Some people feel they want to know so they can plan for the future but most people feel that they can live more comfortably not knowing for sure.
The illness most commonly develops between the ages of 30 and 50 and begins in mild stages that progresses slowly. Many people can still work for many years after the onset of the symptoms.
The faulty gene affects the way that the brain functions and as the disease progresses the affected person can change emotionally ( they may become short tempered and angry),physically ( they may have jerky movement and there speech hard to understand), and cognitively ( they may find it hard to concentrate and remember things).
