1. Hannah Beacom and Thomas Bennett Pd. 3

2.  Rare inherited disorder  Caused by genetic stutter  Progressive loss of nerve cells in brain  Results in dementia  First description of disease by George Huntington in 1872  Named after George Huntington  Discovered by using two pedigrees  Discovered it’s caused by a gene in 1993

3.  Random, uncontrollable movements  Physical instability  Difficulties chewing/swallowing  Difficulty speaking  Sleep disturbances

4.  No cure  No treatments alter Huntington’s Disease  Medication lessens symptoms  Average life expectancy 15 years

5.  If one parent has the gene, the child can inherit disease  50-50 chance of getting disease if parent has it  Affects men, women, and race equally  More common in adults  Caused by dominant gene

7.  Typically begins around ages 30-45  Children who inherit disease rarely live to adulthood  Progressively gets worse over period of 10-15 years  More than 125 million Americans have or are at risk of Huntington’s Disease

8.  “Inheriting Huntington’s Disease.” An Overview. Web. 19 Feb 2013.  Mayo Clinic Staff. “Huntington’s Disease.” Treatments and drugs. Web. 19 Feb 2013.  Miller, Marsha. “Huntington’s Disease Society of America.” HD Research – Past and Future. Web. 19 Feb 2013.  “News Medical.” Huntington’s Disease History. Web. 19 Feb 2013.  Twyman, Richard. "Huntington's Disease." In the Genome. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb 2013.