Huntington's disease is an incurable neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and some cognitive functions, typically becoming noticeable in middle age. It is the most common genetic cause of abnormal involuntary writhing movements called chorea and is much more common in people of Western Europe descent than in those from Asia or Africa. The disease is caused by a dominant mutation on either of the two copies of a gene called Huntingtin, which means any child of an affected parent has a 50% risk of inheriting the disease. Physical symptoms of Huntington's disease can begin at any age from infancy to old age, but usually begin between 35 and 44 years of age. The Huntingtin gene normally provides the genetic information for a protein that is also called "huntingtin". The mutation of the Huntingtin gene codes for a different form of the protein, whose presence results in gradual damage to specific areas of the brain. The exact way this happens is not fully understood. Genetic counseling has developed to inform and aid individuals considering genetic testing. The earliest symptoms are a general lack of coordination and an unsteady gait. As the disease advances, uncoordinated, jerky body movements become more apparent, along with a decline in mental abilities and behavioral and psychiatric problems. Although the disorder itself is not fatal, complications such as pneumonia, heart disease, and physical injury from falls reduce life expectancy to around twenty years after symptoms begin. There is no cure for HD, and full-time care is often required in the later stages of the disease.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington%27s_disease

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1594:

Henry IV of France was crowned at the Cathedral of Chartres near Paris, beginning the Bourbon dynasty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV_of_France

1801:

Under the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C., a new planned city and capital of the United States, was placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Washington%2C_D.C.

1933:

The Reichstag building in Berlin, the assembly location of the German Parliament, was set on fire , a pivotal event in the establishment of the Nazi regime in Germany. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire

1940:

American biochemists Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discovered the radioactive isotope carbon-14, which today is used extensively as the basis of the radiocarbon dating method to date archaeological, geological, and hydrogeological samples. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/carbon-14

1962:

Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bombed the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed assassination attempt of President of South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_South_Vietnamese_Independence_Palace_bombing

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

laud (v): To praise; to glorify http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/laud

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change

To something new, to something strange; Nothing that is can pause or stay;

The moon will wax, the moon will wane, The mist and cloud will turn to rain,

The rain to mist and cloud again, To-morrow be to-day. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow