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Huntington's disease

noun
Hun·​ting·​ton's disease | \ ˈhən-tiŋ-tənz- How to pronounce Huntington's disease (audio) \
variants: or less commonly Huntington disease or Huntington's chorea

Definition of Huntington's disease

: a hereditary brain disorder that is a progressive, neurodegenerative condition marked especially by impairments in thinking and reasoning, disturbances of emotion and behavior, and the involuntary spasmodic movements of chorea and that is associated with the loss or atrophy of nerve cells in the basal ganglia especially of the caudate nucleus and putamen

Note: Huntington's disease is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait requiring only one parent to pass on a copy of the defective gene on a chromosome other than a sex chromosome. While it may have an onset at any age, people most often become symptomatic between 30 to 50 years of age. The most common symptoms of Huntington's disease include depression, irritability, mood swings, deficits in memory and concentration, dementia, difficulty in swallowing, jerky movements, and loss of coordination.

First Known Use of Huntington's disease

1892, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for Huntington's disease

George Huntington †1916 American physician

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More Definitions for Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease

noun
Hun·​ting·​ton's disease | \ ˌhənt-iŋ-tənz- How to pronounce Huntington's disease (audio) \
variants: also Huntington disease or Huntington's chorea or Huntington's

Medical Definition of Huntington's disease

: a hereditary brain disorder that is a progressive, neurodegenerative condition marked especially by impairments in thinking and reasoning, disturbances of emotion and behavior, and the involuntary spasmodic movements of chorea and is associated with the loss or atrophy of nerve cells in the basal ganglia especially of the caudate nucleus and putamen

Note: Huntington's disease is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait requiring only one parent to pass on a copy of the defective gene on a chromosome other than a sex chromosome. While it may have an onset at any age, people most often become symptomatic between 30 to 50 years of age. The most common symptoms of Huntington's disease include depression, irritability, mood swings, deficits in memory and concentration, dementia, difficulty in swallowing, jerky movements, and loss of coordination.

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