Question

Huntington’s chorea is
A) Common in Korea
B) Nervous degeneration causing involuntary shaking of legs, arms, head.
C) Disease of kidney
D) Related to diabetes

Answer 1

Hint: Huntington’s disease is a rare, inherited disease that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain. This disease affects movement, thinking etc.

Complete Answer:
– Huntington’s disease has a broad impact on a person’s functional abilities and usually results in movement, thinking (cognitive) and psychiatric disorders.
– Movement disorders – It includes both involuntary movement and voluntary movement problems. Involuntary jerking (chorea), muscle problems such as rigidity or muscle contracture (dystonia), slow or abnormal eye movements, impaired posture and balance and difficulty with speech or swallowing.
– Impairment in voluntary movements – rather than the involuntary movements – may have a greater impact on a person’s ability to work, perform daily activities and communicate.
– Cognitive disorders – Difficulty in organizing, prioritizing or focusing on tasks. There is lack of flexibility or the tendency to get stuck on a thought, behavior or action. Also lack of impulse control comes under cognitive disorder.
– Psychiatric disorders – It includes feeling of irritability, social withdrawal, fatigue, frequent death thoughts, and insomnia.
– Huntington’s disease is caused by an inherited defect in a single gene. It is an autosomal dominant disorder.
– It is usually nervous degeneration that causes involuntary shaking of legs, arms and head.

The correct option is B.

Note: It usually develops between the ages of 30 and 50, but can start at any age. If someone develops symptoms before the age of 20, this is known as Juvenile Huntington’s.
– Medical treatment can only manage symptoms to some extent. But treatment cannot present the physical, mental and behavioral decline associated with the condition.