The Genetics of Huntingtons Disease

Huntington’s

The Genetics of Huntington’s disease
Ashley Irwin
PSY 104
Kandi Wojtysiak
January 24, 2012

Huntington's disease

          Plenty of people love the fact that they can enjoy a normal life because their brain functions accordingly. Well not everyone has the gift of normality. In this harsh world people are dying of all types of diseases and things that are undetectable or even treatable due to the fact that they have unknown origins. Among these fatal and life threatening ailments, Huntington’s disease, otherwise known as (HD), takes precedence.
          A woman stares pensively out her bedroom window. Today is her twentieth birthday. Most people have the whole rest of their lives to look forward to when staring out the window at this age, but not Lindsey. She isn't sure. Ten years ago her mother was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, a late-onset genetic disorder, and Lindsey was forced to watch her mother deteriorate to the point where she could no longer take care of herself. Lindsey and her brothers had to put their mother in a home. Now Lindsey faces a lot of decisions and dilemmas. She has dreams of becoming married. But, she worries if she could have the disease, and if she should decide whether or not to have children. But how long does she have until she begins to deteriorate like her mother? Or maybe she is the lucky one; maybe she didn't inherit this gene from her mother. Can one of her brother’s be next in line?

In this paper, I will discuss the role of genetics in Huntington’s disease, how the genes of the two parents influence the traits of an offspring in HD, and I will examine how abnormalities can contribute to genetics of HD.
          Throughout human history scientists wondered what a disease is, and how they can prevent it. There are different types of diseases. Some diseases are spread by microbes and viruses, and some are genetic, also called disorders. Genetic disorder is a disease that is caused by an...