2023/07/17 by Luke David Wheeler
#Current Research #Diagnosis #Huntingtin #Huntington's disorder #Prevalence #Symptoms #Treatments
paper · doi:10.5526/esj.225
Huntington's disorder is an incurable genetic neurodegenerative disorder that affects many people's day-to-day lives, and in the United Kingdom alone, affects an estimated 8,000 people (Balogun et al., 2022). Its prevalence worldwide depends on the lineage of those afflicted - for example, ~10 people of European descent per 100,000 are affected, whereas it is rare in those of Japanese descent (Frank, 2013). Symptoms include those that are psychological, such as difficulties with concentration and memory, mood swings, and those that are physical, such as chorea, dysphagia, speaking impairment, sluggishness, and breathing problems to name a few. Patients with late-stage Huntington's disorder may require full-time nursing care because of the severity of these symptoms. Research is ongoing into the biochemistry of Huntington's disorder as well as possible treatment pathways. In 2020-21 alone, the National Institue for Health and Care Research dedicated £77 million of its £1.2 billion budget towards the research into neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's (Balogun et al., 2022; NIHR, 2022), which shows how these disorders are a research hot spot. This analysis aims to present and explore the main topics - what is Huntington's disorder? What are the symptoms? What causes it? How prevalent is it? How is it diagnosed and treated? What kind of research is being conducted both in the United Kingdom and worldwide? - in a format that is easier to digest for novices to the field - whether they are patients who were recently diagnosed, or scientists new to the disorder.