| At-risk | meaning the patient has a parent or sibling who has tested positive for the Huntington's disease
(HD) gene. |
| Anticipation | occurs when a child develops a disease earlier than his or her parent. |
| CAG Repeat | the repeating unit of DNA ("triplet repeat") present in all normal huntington genges, which when expanded to 36 or more units ("mutant") causes HD. |
| Chorea | refers to involuntary twitching movements that first tend to involve the fingers and toes and then progress to include the whole body |
| Dementia | refers to a gradual loss of intellectual abilities such as memory, concentration, problem solving, and judgment. |
| Dominant | meaning that one need only inherit the gene from one parent to get the disease. |
| Genetic testing | when a person gives a blood sample so that he or she can be tested for the presence of a specific hereditary disease. |
| Hereditary | meaning that it is caused by a gene that is passed from parent to child. |
| Movement disorder | The movement disorder associated with HD consists of two parts: involuntary twitching movements (chorea) and difficulties with voluntary movements in the form of clumsiness, stiffness, or trouble with walking. |
| Neurodegenerative | meaning that it is a progressive condition, which results from accumulating damage to specific areas of the nervous system |
| Psychiatric disturbances | meaning that the patient may develop depression, mania, irritability, apathy or personality changes. |
| Personality changes | changes in behavior or interactions with other people that so no not fall into another diagnostic category. |
| Presymptomatic | when someone is carrying the abnormal ("mutant" or "expanded") gene, but does not yet have symptoms of the manifest disease. |
| Recessive | meaning that one must get the gene from both sides of the family to have the disease. |
| Symptomatic | meaning that a person is carrying the abnormal gene, and showing signs and symptoms of the disease. |
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