By ; AMEER AZEEZ

Huntington's Disease

09/02/2015

• Definition of HD• Symptoms• Causes• Treatments

This presentation includes:

Definition of HD

Huntington's disease is an inherited disease that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain. Huntington's disease has a broad impact on a person's functional abilities and usually results in movement, thinking (cognitive) and psychiatric disorders.The Disease was first recognized in 1872 when a 22-year-old American doctor, George Huntington, wrote a paper called On Chorea ("Chorea" comes from the Latin and Greek words and it means dance )

HD usually begins in the age of 30 to 40

years.

Symptoms of Huntington's disease ( Huntington’s chorea )

Huntington's disease usually causes

1.Movement disorders الحركةفي اضطرابات2.Cognitive disorders معرفيه اضطرابات3.Psychiatric disorders نفسيه اضطرابات

The Movement disordersThe movement disorders associated with Huntington's disease can include both involuntary movements and impairments in voluntary movements:

•Involuntary jerking or writhing movements (chorea)•Muscle problems, such as rigidity or muscle contracture (dystonia)•Slow or abnormal eye movements•Impaired gait, posture and balance•Difficulty with the physical production of speech or swallowing

Cognitive disorders معرفيه اضطرابات

Cognitive impairments often associated with Huntington's disease include

•Difficulty organizing, prioritizing or focusing on tasks•Lack of flexibility or the tendency to get stuck on a thought, behavior or action•Lack of impulse control that can result in outbursts, •Lack of awareness of one's own behaviors and abilities•Slowness in processing thoughts or ''finding'' words•Difficulty in learning new information

Psychiatric disorders نفسيه اضطراباتThe most common psychiatric disorder associated with Huntington's disease is depression. This isn't simply a reaction to receiving a diagnosis of Huntington's disease. Instead, depression appears to occur because of injury to the brain and subsequent changes in brain function. Signs and symptoms may include:

•Feelings of irritability, sadness or apathy•Social withdrawal•Fatigue and loss of energy and Insomnia•Frequent thoughts of death, dying or suicide

Other common psychiatric disorders include:

•Obsessive-compulsive disorder•Mania, which can cause elevated mood, over activity, impulsive behavior•Bipolar disorder, or alternating episodes of depression and mania

In addition to the above symptoms, weight loss is common in people with

Huntington's disease, especially as the disease progresses.

Causes of Huntington's disease

* Huntington's disease involves in neurotransmittersand it believed to be caused by :

loss of cell bodies of GABA-secreting neurons in the caudate nucleus and putamen and acetylcholine-

secreting neurons in many parts of the brain. /

Huntington's disease (HD) are neurodegenerative disorders that involve disruptions in gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) signaling. GABA is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS). GABA-secreting neurons are normally inhibit the globus pallidus and substantia nigra The loss of inhibition allows spontaneous outbursts of excitatory activity that lead to involuntary muscle contraction and body distortions

Huntington's disease Resulting from Damage to the Basal Ganglia

•The dementia in Huntington's disease probably does not result from the loss of GABA neurons •but from the loss of acetylcholine-secreting neurons, perhaps especially in the thinking areas of the cerebral cortex.

dementia in Huntington's disease

•Emotional changes•Depressionكآبه

•Maniaالهوس

•Lack of Manners حميدة عادات

•Extreme eccentricityشديد انحراف

•Obsessive-compulsive Symptoms القهري الوسواس

Treatment for Huntington's Disease

The emphasis today is on living positively with Huntington's Disease. An integrated, multi-disciplinary approach focuses on the triad of:

•diet and supplements الغذائية والمكمالت الغذائي النظام

•exercise•spiritual and psychosocial support والنفسي الروحي الدعم

thank you for your attention