HUNTINGTON’S DISEASE Fast facts This genetic, progressively degenerative brain disorder often results in a person’s loss of mental faculties and physical control. About the disease:

Symptoms include personality changes, depression, mood swings, forgetfulness, involuntary movements, impaired judgment, slurred speech and an unsteady gait.

Problems often develop between age 30 and 50 and progress over a 10- to 25-year period.

Roughly 30,000 Americans suffer from HD, with more than 200,000 at risk of inheriting it from a parent.

Anyone who inherits the HD gene will eventually develop the disease.

HD has no known cure, but effective support and services often improve the quality of life for those touched by Huntington’s.

The 1993 discovery of the gene that causes HD made possible a genetic test requiring only a blood sample that allows at-risk people to learn if they carry the gene.

For more information, call the Huntington’s Disease Society of America’s national office at (800) 345-HDSA, or go to its Web site, www.hdsa.org

Source: HDSA