Symptoms
Onset and duration
The disease most often appears in adults between the ages of 40 and 50. However, Huntington’s disease can also appear in children as young as 1 or in adults as old as 80. The latter form of Huntington’s is, however, very rare. Huntington’s manifests itself through motor dysfunction and through emotional changes that can vary extensively.
Chorea and other motor dysfunctions
Typical motor dysfunctions consist of jerky, involuntary movements of the arms (e.g. fingers and hands), the legs, the torso and the face (chorea: Greek for dance). At the beginning, family members and friends often fail to see the symptoms for what they really are: instead, they interpret the sick person’s staggering and slurring as drunkenness.
Aside from the considerable motor dysfunctions, one will also notice swallowing and speaking impairments in later phases. Difficulty in swallowing can lead to life-threatening situations.
Emotional and mental health
Early symptoms of Huntington’s usually include irritability, loss of motivation, and a change in the emotional state. Another obvious symptom is the diminishment of mental faculties to the point of dementia. Vegetative symptoms such as a lack of appetite and sleep can also occur.
Patients with Huntington’s disease also go through emotional changes. They can become emotionally closed, moody and aggressive. Some patients start having delusions and develop a psychosis as their disease progresses.
Depression can be a symptom of the disease or it can be a reaction to the realization that one has the disease.