There's currently no cure for Huntington's disease or any way to stop it getting worse. But treatment and support can help reduce some of the problems caused by the condition.
While the cause of the disease is known — a single mutated gene — there is no cure. “Our plan is to conduct human clinical trials that deliver stem cells to replace damaged brain cells, reducing levels of harmful proteins that build up in the brains of Huntington's disease patients.”
Currently, there are no treatments available for Huntington's disease that change the course of the disease.
The range of disease duration was between 2 and 17 years, the oldest living to age 91.
People can start to show the symptoms of Huntington's disease at almost any age. Most will develop problems between the ages of 30 and 50. The condition gradually gets worse for around 10-25 years, until the person dies.
The time from the first symptoms to death is often about 10 to 30 years.
Early Stage: In this stage patients can still perform most of their usual activities. They may still be working and may still be able to drive. Involuntary movements are mild and infrequent, speech is still clear, and dementia, if present at all, is mild.
Huntington's Disease (HD) is not fatal in itself. People with HD have a shorter life expectancy and die of other life-threatening complications related to this disease. Pneumonia and heart disease are the two leading causes of death for people with HD.
Huntington's disease is a condition that stops parts of the brain working properly over time. It's passed on (inherited) from a person's parents. It gets gradually worse over time and is usually fatal after a period of up to 20 years.
There's currently no cure for Huntington's disease or any way to stop it getting worse.
Small molecules, in the case of the Erlangen researchers the active substance Branaplam, are administered as a tablet; they reduce the huntingtin level. This finding led to a first international study by the pharmaceutical company Novartis, which examined the effectiveness of Branaplam in Huntington's disease.
In general, Huntington's is rare — 30-70 cases per million people in most Western countries — but it is not entirely eliminated because selection does a relatively poor job of weeding these alleles out, while mutation continues creating new ones.
Delaying & Treatment of Symptoms
Eating well is also vital to keeping both the brain and body healthy. Just by eating right and exercising regularly, you can help to delay the onset or progression of symptoms. Keeping your brain active may also help, so do lots of puzzles like Sudoku.
Common end-of-life signals include significant weight loss, difficulty swallowing or breathing, recurrent aspiration pneumonia, and uncontrolled pain.
The most painful conditions in Huntington's, said Achterberg, are limb pain, headache, abdominal pain and fractures. “I think we should do more work in validation of pain tools, including observational pain instruments,” he said. “And for clinicians, I suggest you be especially aware of abdominal pain.”
Weight loss can make symptoms worse and weaken the patient's immune system, making them more vulnerable to infections and other complications. Huntington's disease itself is not usually fatal, but it can lead to choking, pneumonia, or other infections that can lead to death.
Huntington's patients are often irritable and angry. They may feel frustrated, become stubborn and lose their tempers, and sometimes these feelings result in violent outbursts.
Huntington's is a dominant genetic disease. With these diseases, you are almost never an invisible carrier like you can be with recessive genetic diseases. You usually can't pass on a gene that causes the disease because you don't have it.
If you have Huntington disease, it is important to closely monitor you condition, and contact your healthcare provider if you notice any of the following symptoms: Increasing difficulty with motor tasks such as walking. Trouble swallowing. Mood changes, such as increasing symptoms of depression or feelings of suicide.
In Australia it is estimated that over 1,800 people have Huntington's Disease and approximately 9,000 are at risk (Huntington's NSW ACT website, 2019) with a reported prevalence rate in Australia which ranges from 4.5 per 100,000 to 6.5 per 100,000 (Pringsheim et al., 2012).
Physical changes may include slurred speech and problems with swallowing, eating, speaking, and especially walking. People with HD may lose weight because of problems with feeding, swallowing, choking, and chest infections.
There have been reports that juvenile onset Huntington's chorea is almost always inherited from the father, and that late-onset Huntington's chorea is inherited more often from the mother than from the father.