Juvenile Huntington's Disease

Adult onset HD often takes a course of 10-25 years from onset of symptoms until their passing.Childhood onset,or JHD,typicaly takes a more rapid and agressive course of symptoms,more commonly resulting in a childs passing in 5-10 years.

A question I am often asking is,is it possible that juvenile HD follow a different course than adult HD due to the fact that a childs body and brain is not fully developed when it begins to degenerate?I am unclear to weather that has an answer.

Adult Hd is more commonly heard of,than the juvenile onset of this disease,which makes it even more of a challange for families and professionals both trying to care for and DIAGNOSE this disease.

Symptoms in a child can initialy appear and disapear quickly,and may be mistaken for growing and developmental issues,and can be often a challange for people who are not experienced with this disease.

Presently in the world,due to the smaller known popullation of Juveniles,there are many obsticles placed in front of the professionals wishing to address the needs of JHD families.This smaller known popullation has resulted in less JHD studies worldwide, in comparrison to adult onset.However there has been a strong effort in The HD community to address this over the years and growth continues.

Often in a family with JHD the child can become symptomatic before the affected parent.OR the parent and one or multiple children may become symptomatic at the same time.

Children dont always follow the same course of symptoms as adults..Its possible earlier in progression a child may have swallow and caloric needs that require the issue of a feeding tube to be addressed.A child may become dystonic and stiff early in progression,and react diffrently to medications and treatments.

Dr nance shared that exspectations not be placed on a child with JHD.From personal exsperience I extend this to,NOT even at what appears to be end hours of life,they can turn around and improve ,as quickly as they became ill.

Both the juvenile and adult onset of HD affects people as uniquely as they are individuals,even within the same family.This disease impacts every system in a persons body,and every region in the brain.Both are accompanied by many myths and misunderstandings.For everyone who wishes to distinguish fact from fiction please research" Huntingtons Disease".