Key Takeaways
- Understanding Huntington’s disease and dementia: Huntington’s disease is a hereditary, genetic, neurological disease, similar to dementia, but with some differences.
- What is Huntington’s disease? Huntington’s disease is a neurological disease in which the protein Huntingtin is faulty and damages nerves.
- How does Huntington’s disease cause dementia? Huntington’s causes dementia due to how it leads to progressive neurological symptoms.
- What are the symptoms of Huntington’s disease? Huntington’s symptoms can overlap with dementia, including impaired judgment, reduced motivation, motor difficulties, and emotional changes.
- Who gets Huntington’s disease? Being a genetic condition, those with a parent diagnosed have a 50% likelihood of developing the disease, often affecting the extended family as well.
- How is Huntington’s disease diagnosed? Diagnosis involves referral to a neurologist and, potentially, genetic testing to confirm whether you have the Huntington’s gene.
- How is Huntington’s disease treated? Treatment focuses on alleviating symptoms through various therapies and making environmental adaptations for safety.
- How are cognitive issues managed? You can manage cognitive difficulties with effective communication, as well as activities that promote comfort and familiarity, which are beneficial.
- Huntington’s disease dementia symptoms: Memory issues in Huntington’s disease differ from those of typical dementia, like difficulties in decision-making and following steps, rather than loss of personal memories.
Huntington’s disease is a disease that affects the brain, much like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Huntington’s disease is quite similar to dementia in that it is hereditary. However, the symptoms are a little bit different in Huntington’s disease compared to dementia. Unlike some forms of dementia that may be vascular or idiopathic, Huntington’s disease has a specific genetic cause. But did you know that Huntington’s disease can cause dementia? How does Huntington’s disease compare with and affect dementia? Let’s take a look at this.
What is Huntington’s disease?
Huntington’s disease is a genetic disorder that is caused by a faulty gene on chromosome 4. Ordinarily, the protein called Huntingtin in your body helps your nerve cells to develop normally. However, in Huntington’s disease, the Huntingtin protein is faulty and damages the cells instead. The damage from Huntington’s disease typically affects the parts of the brain controlling movement, emotions, cognition, and learning—the basal ganglia and cerebral cortex.
How does Huntington’s disease cause dementia?
People typically think of Huntington’s disease as a disease that affects motor function, or movement. However, as we’ve established, Huntington’s disease causes damage to the brain. It’s this damage that can then develop into dementia.
It is also the progressive nature of Huntington’s disease that makes dementia more likely to develop. As both Huntington’s and dementia develop, a person will start to need more help taking care of themselves.
What are the symptoms of Huntington’s disease?
When it comes to Huntington’s disease and dementia, people with Huntington’s disease may exhibit a vast range of symptoms as the disease progresses. Huntington’s disease and dementia symptoms are similar and can overlap.
Someone with Huntington’s disease may experience a reduction in judgment, reasoning, planning, and decision-making skills, as well as poor impulse control and a change in emotional engagement. They may also have slower thinking, attention problems, and difficulty learning new things. The person may even have reduced temper control, motivation, and insight.
Motor-wise, a person with Huntington’s disease may also notice stiffness, difficulty controlling their muscles, clumsiness, difficulty speaking and swallowing, and weight loss.
Who gets Huntington’s disease?
Huntington’s disease is simply caused by a faulty gene, making it a genetic disorder. So, if you have a parent with the condition, you’ll have a 50% chance of developing Huntington’s. People in your extended family have most likely experienced the disease, and may have fears about or knowledge of the support and help someone with Huntington’s can get.
How is Huntington’s disease diagnosed?
If you or your loved one is experiencing symptoms of Huntington’s disease, you’ll get referred to a neurologist, a doctor specialising in brain conditions. They’ll order further tests and treatment if necessary.
If you suspect there is a familial link, you can get genetic testing done to see whether you carry the Huntington’s gene. This is not mandatory; however, you must be at least 18 years old.
How is Huntington’s disease treated?
Like dementia, we treat Huntington’s disease today by managing the symptoms. This includes adapting the home environment to eliminate trip hazards and other risks, providing speech and language therapy for swallowing or speech problems, physiotherapy for movement issues, and occupational therapy to address symptoms as they arise.
How are cognitive issues managed?
If a person with Huntington’s or dementia develops significant cognitive issues, you can communicate more effectively by reducing distractions and noise, speaking more slowly and clearly, using non-verbal cues (for example, hand gestures) and short sentences to accompany speech, and allowing extra time to respond.
If a person has word-finding difficulties, you can also ask questions to narrow down their answer, as well as use yes and no cards and picture cards. Electronic communication aids, like a tablet or mobile phone, are also a good idea. Activities and routines that the person likes will also help them to feel relaxed and comfortable.
Unlike dementia, comprehension usually persists in Huntington’s even if the person can’t speak.
Dementia can develop at any stage of Huntington’s disease. However, this form of dementia affects a person differently from typical dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease and similar conditions. While people with Alzheimer’s disease forget things like people, events, and places, the memory problems associated with Huntington’s disease are more likely to involve struggling to follow steps, or in making decisions, instead of losing personal memories..
Huntington’s disease dementia symptoms
In the early stages of Huntington’s disease, some people develop dementia symptoms like difficulty with thinking and problems with perception. It’s also common to find planning and concentration more difficult than before.
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