Huntingtons Disease

Abstract

HUNTINGTON'S disease is an autosomal dominant disorder that usually begins in mid-life and is characterized by a progression of involuntary choreiform movements, psychological change, and dementia.¹ George Huntington and his father and grandfather first studied the illness in families in East Hampton, Long Island, New York. The ancestry of some cases has been traced to immigrants from Bures, England, in 1649.^{2 , 3} Other evidence also suggests that the disease is of European origin; cases in South Africa have been traced to Dutch settlers who emigrated there in 1658,⁴ and cases in Tasmania have been traced to ancestors from Somerset, England.³ These . . .