Signs and Symptoms: Understanding Helps
In the past 30 years, HD has created a great deal of clinical and scientific curiosity, and much effort has been devoted to a clearer understanding of the clinical symptoms and complications of Huntington’s Disease. The disease involves three main symptoms groups:
- Abnormal Motor Movements, including too much movement (chorea), uncoordinated movements (dystonia), and too little movement (bradykinesia).
- Psychiatric symptoms include depression, impulsivity, apathy, obsessive behavior, unawareness, irritability, and in unusual cases, mania, changes in sexuality, and psychosis.
- Cognitive impairments, including problems with organization/task sequencing, memory recall, social judgments, inability to suppress normal stimuli, poor impulse control, and language expression.
These symptoms occur at different times in the course of the disease. Some will come and go as the disease progresses, and some will gradually worsen over time. There are many good summaries of the signs and symptoms available including:
Links:
http://www.hdsa.org/living-with-huntingtons/family-care/publications.html
http://www.hda.org.uk/hda/fact-sheets.php
http://www.huntingtonsociety.ca/english/content/?page=10
http://www.hdsa.org/living-with-huntingtons/family-care/publications.html
