Huntington's disease medical therapy

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Medical Therapy

There is no treatment to fully arrest the progression of the disease, but symptoms can be reduced or alleviated through the use of medication and care methods.

Medication

There are treatments available to help control the chorea, although these may have the side effect of aggravating bradykinesia or dystonia.

Other standard treatments to alleviate emotional symptoms include the use of antidepressants and sedatives, with antipsychotics (in low doses) for psychotic symptoms. Care needs to be taken with antipsychotic usage as people suffering psychotic symptoms of organic origin are often more sensitive to the side effects of these drugs.

Nutrition

Nutrition is an important part of treatment; most HD sufferers need two to three times the calories than the average person to maintain body weight, so a nutritionist's advice is needed (the normal population's average daily intake is approximately 2000 calories for women and 2500 for children and men).

Speech therapy can help by improving speech and swallowing methods. This advice should be sought early on, as the ability to learn is reduced as the disease progresses.

To aid swallowing, thickener can be added to drinks. The option of using a stomach PEG is available when eating becomes too hazardous or uncomfortable, this will reduce the chances of pneumonia due to aspiration of food and increase the amount of nutrients and calories that can be ingested.

EPA, an Omega-III fatty acid, slows and possibly reverses the progression of the disease. It is currently in FDA clinical trial, as Miraxion© (LAX-101), for prescription use. Clinical trials utilize 2 grams per day of EPA. In the United States, it is available over the counter in lower concentrations in Omega-III and fish oil supplements.

A calorie restrictive diet delays the onset of symptoms in HD mice.

IF there is no known treatment for the disease:

There is no treatment for [disease name]; the mainstay of therapy is supportive care. Supportive therapy for [disease name] includes [therapy 1], [therapy 2], and [therapy 3]. The majority of cases of [disease name] are self-limited and require only supportive care. IF the disease constitutes a medical emergency:

[Disease name] is a medical emergency and requires prompt treatment. IF there is a specific preferred modality of medical therapy:

The mainstay of treatment for [disease name] is [therapy].