Huntington's disease

In 1872 George Huntington described the disorder in his first paper "On Chorea" at the age of 22.

Huntington's disease or chorea is a genetic disease. It affects the brain, and can lead to movement coordination problems (esp. with coordination) and behaviour. On average, it leads to death about fifteen years after showing. It is found in about 5-7 in 100.000 people. The disease is named after George Huntington who described it accurately in 1872. According to Huntington, the disease is characterized by three things:

• It is hereditary
• People who have it are cases for psychiatry ("insanity and suicide")
• It only occurs in adults

Of these, the last one proved to be wrong (there have also been children with the disease)

As of 2011, there is no treatment for the disease as such, but the different symptoms can be treated. However, the effects can be dramatically reduced by the use of stem cells