Huntington disease

Alternative names:

Huntington chorea

Symptoms:

• behavior changes
  • irritability, moodiness
  • restless, fidgety
  • antisocial behaviors
  • psychosis, paranoia, hallucinations, etc.

• facial movements, grimaces
• need to turn head to shift the gaze
• progressive dementia
  • loss of memory
  • loss of judgment
  • speech changes
  • loss of other functions (calculating, etc.)
  • personality changes
  • disorientation or confusion

• unsteady gait
• progressive development of abnormal (choreiform) movements
  • quick, sudden, jerking movements of arms, legs, face, trunk (movement, unpredictable - jerky)
  • movement, uncontrolled - slow

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• speech impairment
• anxiety, stress, and tension
• difficulty swallowing

Signs and tests:

Examination may indicate progressive dementia and choreiform (chorea-like) movements. Reflexes may be abnormal. The gait is often "prancing" and wide. Speech may be hesitant or enunciation poor.

A head CT scan may show atrophy (loss of tissue), especially of deep brain (caudate) structures, or other abnormality.

Other tests that may indicate Huntington's disease include:

• a head MRI scan
• a PET (isotope) scan of the brain
• DNA marker studies (gene studies that indicate the tendency to develop this disorder) may be available