What is Huntington’s Disease?

 

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a fatal genetic disorder that causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain. It deteriorates a person’s physical and mental abilities during their prime working years and has no cure. HD is known as the quintessential family disease because every child of a parent with HD has a 50/50 chance of carrying the faulty gene. Today, there are approximately 41,000 symptomatic Americans and more than 200,000 at-risk of inheriting the disease.

Many describe the symptoms of HD as having ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s – simultaneously.

For more information on Huntington’s disease and also to find support/information: Huntington’s Disease Clinics which are called Centers of Excellence, support group meetings and online support groups, contact info on a HD social worker, HD events in your area, please see:  http://hdsa.org

Other Huntington’s disease organizations in the U.S.:

Help4HD International  https://help4hd.org/

For kids and young adults HDYO  https://en.hdyo.org/ and NYA  http://nya.hdsa.org/ 

Hereditary Disease Foundation http://www.hdfoundation.org/

Huntington’s Disease Foundation  http://www.huntingtonsdiseasefoundation.org/ 

We Have a Face   https://www.wehaveaface.org/