Juvenile Huntington’s Disease

Description

Huntingtons disease (HD) is an inherited progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Although onset of Huntingtons Disease usually occurs in adulthood, the age of onset of the condition is extremely variable with approximately 5-10% of cases having an onset of less than 20 years, or Juvenile Huntingtons Disease (JHD). While JHD shares many of the clinical features of adult HD (e.g., chorea and personality disorders), patients with JHD often experience additional problems including seizures, dystonia and Parkinsonism. Diagnosis in patients with JHD is often delayed because of the failure of clinicians to recognise the characteristic features of the condition. While several textbooks have been published on HD, no books have been published to date focussing solely on the juvenile onset form of the disease. This book summarises, for the first time, the clinical and scientific knowledge available on JHD. It also collects together accounts from families affected by the condition, putting the clinical and scientific c