Understanding the Symptoms of Huntington Disease

Understanding the Symptoms of Huntington Disease

There are a number of inherited diseases that may cause a breakdown of the cells in the body, in a progressive manner. This leads to a slowdown of many functions and a variety of symptoms as well. Huntington Disease is one of them, which causes a gradual degeneration of the nerve cells of the body. The symptoms that come from such degeneration include a number of issues like slow mobility, psychiatric issues, and even cognitive development problems. Let us find out more about Huntington Disease and its symptoms.

To understand the symptoms in a better manner, you first need to understand that the various side effects and symptoms may not occur all at once. One or two of the major symptoms of Huntington’s disease may be dominant, while the others may not be extremely obvious. Therefore, it is imperative to go for a proper diagnosis done by a certified doctor who will refer the patient to a number of specialists for further diagnosis. This will also have a major bearing on the kind of treatment method that will be undertaken for the patient in question.

Movement-Related Symptoms
Some of the major symptoms of Huntington’s Disease have to do with the movement and mobility of the patient. In many cases, it has been seen that the degeneration of the nerve cells leads to many changes in the makeup as well as the functioning of the muscles and the joints. This has a large influence on the way a person moves. One of the most common symptoms in this regard includes knee jerks and other such sudden, flickering movements that make it difficult for the person to move from place A to place B in a normal manner. These movements create sudden jerks and involuntary motions which can also cause problems when it comes to exercising other motor skills, such as holding an object while walking, opening a door and closing it while standing, so on and so forth.
Also, these kinds of involuntary twitches and jerks can lead to problems in posture and gait or the way a person carries his or her frame. The patient may also experience rigidity in the muscles and stiffness in the joints along with eye movement problems, issues in chewing and swallowing and other related movements. Due to this, the patient might face problems in running in a normal manner. Physiotherapy on a routine basis is the solution for such cases.

Cognitive Problems
There are a number of nerves in the brain which might get affected when a person is suffering from a degenerative disease of the nerve cells like Huntington Disease. This will create various symptoms when it comes to one’s cognition and mental capacity as well. The patient may be left grappling for the right words at the right time and may even have difficulties when it comes to processing simple facts in terms of bills, the time required for certain activities, so on and so forth.

These kinds of symptoms might occur because the nerves may not be able to parlay the signals of the brain to the other parts of the body in a timely manner. When we speak about the cognitive symptoms of Huntington Disease, we find that these have a bearing on the behavior of the patient as well. The patient may not be very flexible especially when it comes to long-term and short-term changes and other matters that require adaptability. At the same time, the patient may not be aware of the things he or she is doing, or the kind of behavior that he or she might be indulging in. New information will also be a challenge for such patients to pick up and process.

Psychiatric Symptoms
Depression is one of the most common symptoms that one may encounter while suffering from Huntington’s Disease. A feeling of helplessness and desperation may wash over the patient on a routine basis, which may push him or her into depression. This can happen due to an alteration in the play of chemicals and hormones due to the degeneration of the nerve cells. For many patients, in some extreme cases, the depression may also snowball into bipolar disorder where the patient may swing between extreme mania and extreme depression which can be a Huntington’s disease symptoms. These mood swings can lead to many problems and changes in one’s behavior as well. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is also one of the symptoms of Huntington’s disease, where the patient will be obsessed with a certain kind of repetitive behavior. For these kinds of issues and symptoms of Huntington’s disease, one will necessarily have to go through many sessions of counseling with a trained psychiatrist.

 

 

 

 

Related Reading

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Most of the dogs do not have a food fuss and may eat almost anything that you feed them. Dogs are not choosy at all when it comes to food and nutrition. Hence, it is important to make sure that the food that you are purchasing for your dog is healthy. The landscape of dog food has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent times. There is a wide variety of options to choose from in the online and offline market. Given the wide range of options that are available today, buying the best dog food might seem to be a confusing task indeed. All the commercial pet food that is available in the market today is regulated by the FDA. Therefore, most of the products do contain nutritious, healthy, and safe ingredients. But it does help to know certain basic factors you should look for while buying food for your dog. Prioritize on the nutritional guarantee The best dog food, which meets the dog’s needs adequately has a statement written on the label of the product, from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Buy from some of the best dog food brands, such as Fromm Family Foods, Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and The Honest Kitchen.
Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

The most important aspect when designing your kitchen is deciding on the type of cabinets. In addition to functionality, kitchen cabinets score on aesthetics as well. Once the layout is planned, you can go ahead with choosing the cabinets. If you’re remodeling your home or just the kitchen, what you need to consider are the types of cabinets that furnish your kitchen. Here are a few types of kitchen cabinets that you can choose from. Base cabinets These kitchen cabinets are mounted on the floor and they are placed after checking out the floor plan. A major part of your job in the kitchen is on these base cabinets, which hold and support the countertops. These base cabinets are combined to carve out kitchen islands. A number of base cabinets are fused/set against one another and installed on site. The base cabinets, in addition to supporting the countertops, serve as drawers to hold your cutlery and appliances. Wall cabinets Mounted on the walls, these cabinets can store everything, right from your cookware to cookbooks. In terms of design, they offer utmost flexibility. Wall cabinet kitchen is available in varying heights, multiple widths, and custom depth options. This customization helps you to fit in your stuff of varying shapes and sizes into the wall cabinets.
How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

In today’s world, where you are presented with over a dozen choices for every item you would purchase for your own kitchen, it is not surprising that you have an equal number of options for your dog’s food. However, choosing the perfect brand and formula for your dog out of a range of options in the market is not an easy job. Your pet depends on you and trusts you to make the right choice for them. Therefore, it is imperative that you do your research about the products available in the market, understand what your dog needs, know what might be your pet’s problems, and then make a sound decision. What is a sensitive stomach? Dogs are known to have voracious and large appetites. Keeping that in mind, it is normal to assume that they have strong stomachs. They can eat close to anything be it sweets, bakes, chewy gum, hard leather or even woolen socks for that matter! It always so happens that the strongest of them are prone to allergies and can develop a disorder which is medically translated as a sensitive stomach. This might be due to a sudden change in the food habits or even due an infection picked up from somewhere.
All You Need to Know about Cat Food

All You Need to Know about Cat Food

For cat owners, cat food is a hot topic. You need to think about it in different aspects. The best thing is to know which ingredients are good for cat food and which are harmful. If you are aware of this, you can get an idea about the quality of the cat food just by going through the label. It is always sensible to stick to one brand of cat food. However, you may also want to try and prepare cat food yourself. There are also various options for wet cat food as well. Cat’s love for fish is universal, so you can do without going for expensive cat food. Nevertheless, whether you buy it or prepare cat food at home, you need to ensure that the food contains enough nutrition and calories. You would need to have some idea about the ingredients that must be present in cat food and make a worthy selection for your cat. Basic ingredients present in good cat foods Cats need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and active; they need various vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and oils. The following is a brief explanation of the basic ingredients that should be present in cat foods.