An individual with Huntington's disease often has problems in three areas: control of bodily movements, intellectual functioning and emotional control. The intensity and number of the above symptoms, however, varies with each Huntington's disease patient. (3)
             Early symptoms of HD can differ from person to person, and are easily ignored or misinterpreted. The affected person may experiences mood swings, become irritable, apathetic, lethargic, depressed or angry. Sometimes these symptoms disappear as the disease progresses; sometimes they develop into hostile outbursts or deep depression. Uncontrolled movements may develop in the fingers, feet, face or trunk. These tics are the beginnings of chorea, and can become more intense if the patient is anxious or disturbed. In time, new symptoms begin to emerge: mild clumsiness, loss of coordination and balance problems. Walking becomes increasingly difficult, and the person may stumble or fall. Speech may become slurred. The patient may begin having trouble swallowing or eating. Gradually he or she may lose the ability to recognize others. In rarer variations of HD, the disease is characterized not by its onset age but by the unique nature of the symptoms. Some adults with HD never develop chorea. Instead, they become rigid, moving little, if at all. Their condition, called akinesia, gives rise to the distinguishing name akinetic-rigid HD, sometimes referred to as the Westphal variant of HD. (1)
             The source of Huntington's disease lies in the most basic element of human heredity: a single gene. The gene that produces HD is found on chromosome 4, one of the 22 non-sex-linked or "autosomal" chromosome pairs. This means that men and women are at equal risk of inheriting the disease. Because HD is an autosomal dominant disorder, only one copy of the defective gene, inherited from either parent, is needed to produce the disease. Because each parent cont
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