Huntington's chorea cases are not too common in modern medicine. This is a chronic disease, which is accompanied by a gradually progressive lesion of the nervous system. Unfortunately, to date, effective treatment does not exist, so the prognosis for patients is poor.
What is Huntington's disease?
Degenerative chorea is a hereditary disease that is associated with a change in some genes. Most often, the disease begins to manifest itself at the age of 20 to 50 years. Huntington’s cases of teenage chorea are extremely rare.
With such a disease, a gradual atrophy of the heads of the caudate nuclei in the human brain is observed. Due to such degeneration, the main symptoms of the disease appear - these are hyperkinesia, mental abnormalities and other disorders.
As you can see, the causes of Huntington's chorea are exclusively genetic. Nevertheless, there are risk factors that can trigger the onset of the disease. In particular, degeneration often begins against the background of infectious ailments, the intake of certain medications, as well as hormonal disruptions and metabolic disorders.
Huntington's chorea: photos and signs of the disease
As already mentioned, most often degenerative processes in the brain begin in adulthood. It is worth noting that only a doctor after carrying out all the necessary studies can diagnose Huntington’s chorea.
Symptoms and their intensity depend on the stage of development of the disease. As a rule, first of all, hyperkinesis of the facial muscles appears. As a result of the gradual destruction of nerve fibers, involuntary muscle contractions are observed - very expressive grimaces, uncontrolled raising or lowering of eyebrows, twitching of cheeks can often be seen on the face of sick people. In some cases, hyperkinesis of the extremities is possible, in which patients flex and extend their fingers, cross their legs, etc.
As the disease progresses, the patient's speech also changes. First, the pronunciation of sounds is disrupted, after which the speed and rhythm of the conversation changes. About half of the patients experience regular cramps.
Along with motor disorders, very obvious mental disorders appear. If in the initial stages of Huntington’s chorea increased irritability and irritability are observed, then further pronounced emotional instability, memory loss , loss of ability to abstract, logical thinking, perception, concentration of attention appear. In the end, dementia sets in.
Is there an effective treatment for Huntington's chorea?
Unfortunately, all existing methods are intended only to alleviate the patient's condition and symptomatic treatment. Constant observation by a neurologist and taking certain drugs will help reduce the manifestations of motor disorders, as well as slow down the development of mental disorders. The prognosis for patients with a similar diagnosis is very disappointing. The average life expectancy of a person with a similar diagnosis is 12-15 years after the onset of the first symptoms.