Info about Huntington disease
Early onset of the disease, before age 20 years (juvenile HD), is linked to faster progression of symptoms and shorter life expectancy (approximately 8 years). Huntington disease (HD) is an inherited, degenerative neurological disease that leads to dementia. Genes are made up of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA molecules are made up of building blocks called bases. The 4 bases are adenine,thymine, cytosine, and guanine, called A, T, C, and G for short.
• A gene consists of a sequence of bases that together determine a characteristic or trait, such as eye color or body type.
• Each gene in the body has its unique location somewhere on one of 23 chromosomes.
• Each person inherits 2 of eachchromosome, one from his or her mother and one from the father. Thus, each healthy person has 2 copies of every human gene.