Huntington's Disease: The Diagnosis of this Disorder

Huntington’s disease
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Huntington’s disease is an ailment mostly observed in adults who are in their thirties and forties. It is an inherent infection characterized by nerve cell degeneration in the brain. The results are disorders in thinking, psychiatry, movement which impair one’s functioning ability. It is also called Huntington’s chorea.
Huntington’s disease exhibits a wide spectrum of symptoms. Determination of which symptoms appears at first varies from one person to another (Mayo Clinic, 2014). The symptoms here will be broken down to the respective disorders. In movement disorder, symptoms commonly observed are dystonia (muscle problems), chorea (involuntary jerking) ,difficulty in speech, impairment in gait, and movements of the eye that are either slow or abnormal.
In cognitive disorders, the symptoms that stand out include; Inability to organize tasks, difficult to learn, inflexibility, impulse control inability, and slowness when it comes to processing thoughts or finding words. Irritability, insomnia, frequent thoughts of suicide or death, social withdrawal and other disorders like mania, bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorder are associated with psychiatric disorders. However, as the disease makes progression, there is significant weight loss.
As said earlier, Huntington's disease is inherent which means that it is caused by a defect in a single gene inherited from the parents. It is an autosomal dominant disorder (Mayo Clinic, 2014). What it means here, is that the disorder only requires a single copy of the defective gene to develop. These genes are not on the sex chromosomes. It, therefore, means that the inheritor will get two copies of the gene, that is, one copy from each parent. The Huntington’s gene carrier parent can pass on either the defect copy or the healthy copy giving each child in the family 50% chance of inheriting the gene (Mayo Clinic, 2014).
The diagnosis of this disorder begins with the doctor's examination. The doctor will want to find out the family and medical history, changes in emotions and intellectual abilities. He can as well recommend a psychiatric evaluation, and imaging tests such as CT and MRI scans to identify any changes in the structure of the brain (Christian, 2016). The doctor will recommend genetic testing to confirm the diagnosis, where there are suspicions, for example, the history of the disease in the family. Genetic testing will still be recommended if there is no family history but for conditions or diseases that could have been out ruled.
Huntington's disease is incurable; however, some symptoms can be managed through therapies and medications. Chorea can be managed by administration of tatrabenazine and depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders by fluoxetine. Movements, hallucinations and violent outbursts can be controlled by haloperidol, clonazepan (Klonopin) and clozapine (Clorazil). Lithium is prescribed to control extreme mood swings and emotions (Christine, 2016). Physical, speech and occupational therapies are administered to help the patient be fl...