Definition for Difference between revisions of "Huntington's disease"

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(Created page with "Huntington's disease is a disorder passed down through families in which nerve cells in certain parts of the brain waste away, or degenerate. == Causes, incidence, and risk fact...")
 
 
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Huntington's disease is a disorder passed down through families in which nerve cells in certain parts of the brain waste away, or degenerate.
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An autosomal dominant genetic disorder associated with progressive neural degeneration and characterized by involuntary movements of the limbs, dementia, and death within 15 years of onset. Symptoms appear between 30 and 50 years of age.
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== Causes, incidence, and risk factors ==
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Huntington's disease is caused by a genetic defect on chromosome 4. The defect causes a part of DNA, called a CAG repeat, to occur many more times than it is supposed to. Normally, this section of DNA is repeated 10 to 28 times. But in persons with Huntington's disease, it is repeated 36 to 120 times.
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As the gene is passed down through families, the number of repeats tend to get larger. The larger the number of repeats, the greater your chance of developing symptoms at an earlier age. Therefore, as the disease is passed along in families, symptoms develop at younger and younger ages.
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Latest revision as of 21:12, 29 May 2021

An autosomal dominant genetic disorder associated with progressive neural degeneration and characterized by involuntary movements of the limbs, dementia, and death within 15 years of onset. Symptoms appear between 30 and 50 years of age.

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