What is Huntington's Disease?

Huntington's Disease (HD) is a genetic condition which affects the brain and is inherited through a family line. HD destroys the brain cells which affect the way people think, feel and move. There is currently no cure but limited treatment is available to control some symptoms.

People with HD can experience depression, mood swings, forgetfulness, clumsiness and involuntary movements of the limbs. Eventually they may lose the ability to walk, talk or swallow.

The symptoms of HD can vary between individuals. A person may live for 15 to 25 years after developing their first symptoms, but this disease is invariably fatal. HD symptoms typically begin between the ages of 30 and 45.

Who is at risk?

Every child of a person with HD has a 50% chance of inheriting the faulty gene. This means that out of every 100 children born to a parent with the HD gene, 50 will inherit the faulty gene. Everyone who carries the gene will develop the disease.

Once thought of as a rare disease, HD is now considered to be one of the more common inherited diseases. There are over 2,500 Victorians at-risk of inheriting HD. HD affects males and females equally and crosses all ethnic and racial boundaries.

HD and families

HD affects children, adults and families. Within the family, multiple generations may have inherited the disease. Family members can often find themselves needing to care for a number of relatives at the same time

More Information on HD

Juvenile HD

When Huntington’s Disease appears in someone under the age of 20 years, the illness is recognised as "Juvenile Huntington’s Disease" (JHD).
The movement disorder in JHD differs from the adult disease. The earlier the disease onset, the more likely it is that the child will be very rigid, and the less likely it is that he or she will have the involuntary movements seen in most adults. In 25-30% of cases, there is a tendency to epileptic seizures — something almost never seen in adults with HD. Juvenile HD also involves changes in behaviour and mental function.

JHD is extremely rare, affecting less than 10% of all people with HD. This can make dealing with JHD an isolating experience for the young people with HD, their families and also professionals involved with them. In HD, there is an expanded CAG repeat in a gene on chromosome 4. JHD involves a larger number of repeats — 50, 60 or more than is found in the adult-onset form of the disease. Generally, the more repeats, the earlier the disease tends to start

More information on Juvenile HD
(on the Huntington Society of Canada website)