Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant inherited neurodegenerative disorder that presents with characteristic gait changes, including decreased walking speed, step initiation difficulties [1]-[3] and a variable stepping pattern [4]-[6].
Individuals with HD demonstrate the slower speed of gait, shorter stride length, and increased variability of gait parameters as compared to controls; cognitive disturbances in HD often compound these differences.
If you have Huntington's disease, it's important to try to stay as active as you can. This can help you feel better both physically and mentally. Getting around can be difficult if you have problems with co-ordination and balance, but even regular walking with the use of aids like walking sticks can be beneficial.
In addition, HD presents several changes in gait features, including decreased walking velocity, step initiation difficulties and variable stepping pattern [2-7]. As the disease progresses, mobility worsens not only through the development of hyperkinesia such as chorea but also through parkinsonian bradykinesia.
The movement disorders associated with Huntington's disease can include both involuntary movement problems and impairments in voluntary movements, such as: Involuntary jerking or writhing movements (chorea) Muscle problems, such as rigidity or muscle contracture (dystonia) Slow or unusual eye movements.
Many people with Huntington disease develop involuntary jerking or twitching movements known as chorea. As the disease progresses, these movements become more pronounced. Affected individuals may have trouble walking, speaking, and swallowing.
Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that results in a gradual decline in mobility and balance.
An unsteady, staggering gait is described as an ataxic gait because walking is uncoordinated and appears to be 'not ordered'. Many motor activities may be described as ataxic if they appear to others, or are perceived by patients, as uncoordinated.
Gait characteristics: gait speed, mean step width, mean stance time, and cadence. The GaitMat II system is an instrumented walkway that is approximately 4 m long; the initial and final 2 m are inactive to allow for acceleration and deceleration.
What is chorea? Chorea is a movement disorder that causes sudden, unintended, and uncontrollable jerky movements of the arms, legs, and facial muscles. Chorea is seen in many diseases and conditions and is caused by an overactivity of the chemical dopamine in the areas of the brain that control movement.
Mood and behavioral changes
Agitation, irritability, and aggression are other possible personality changes. Some patients may experience hallucinations and delusions that can severely affect their day-to-day interactions. Living with Huntington's can induce feelings of anxiety, depression, apathy, and frustration.
Weight loss can make symptoms worse and weaken the patient's immune system, making them more vulnerable to infections and other complications. Huntington's disease itself is not usually fatal, but it can lead to choking, pneumonia, or other infections that can lead to death.
The most painful conditions in Huntington's, said Achterberg, are limb pain, headache, abdominal pain and fractures. “I think we should do more work in validation of pain tools, including observational pain instruments,” he said. “And for clinicians, I suggest you be especially aware of abdominal pain.”
As the disease progresses, a variety of motor, emotional/behavioral, and cognitive symptoms are experienced, including unsteadiness, trouble holding onto things, trouble walking, changes in sleeping patterns, delusions and hallucinations, intellectual decline, and memory loss.
During late-stage Huntington's disease, or stage V, individuals experience speech difficulty, weight loss, and loss of bowel and bladder control. They will have dementia and severe limitations in voluntary movement and will be fully dependent on assistance.
Common end-of-life signals include significant weight loss, difficulty swallowing or breathing, recurrent aspiration pneumonia, and uncontrolled pain.
The most common types of gait abnormalities in children are intoeing and outtoeing. Intoeing is walking with the feet turned inward.
Some common examples of an abnormal gait include: Limping. Dragging your toes. Shuffling your feet.
Cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, Charcot Marie Tooth disease, ataxia-telangiectasia, spinal muscular atrophy, peroneal neuropathy, and microvascular white-matter disease all cause significant gait disabilities. Electrolyte disorders include hyponatremia, hypokalemia, and hypomagnesemia can cause gait disorders.
Individuals with Parkinson's gait will take slow, shuffling steps and may or may not swing their arms. Their feet may sometimes feel stuck to the ground — a condition called freezing.
Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited disorder that causes nerve cells (neurons) in parts of the brain to gradually break down and die. The disease attacks areas of the brain that help to control voluntary (intentional) movement, as well as other areas.
Huntington's Disease (HD) is not fatal in itself. People with HD have a shorter life expectancy and die of other life-threatening complications related to this disease. Pneumonia and heart disease are the two leading causes of death for people with HD.
Huntington's disease is a condition that damages nerve cells in the brain causing them to stop working properly. It's passed on (inherited) from a person's parents. The damage to the brain gets worse over time. It can affect movement, cognition (perception, awareness, thinking, judgement) and mental health.