Huntington's neurological disorde

By that time my mother-in-law was married with nine children. Her older brother was the first to be diagnosed with Huntington's, however since he lived some distance away, they were not fully aware of his rate of deterioration.

A few years later the sister who lived within the same town was diagnosed with the disease. This was a very special lady who did her best to look after her children for as long as she could. It was about this time I married into the family. When expecting my daughter I brought the subject up to my family doctor, who like a lot of doctors at that time knew very little about the disease. He did manage to scare me to death by telling me that I would have to get my daughter sterilized so that she could not pass it on to her children and since it could skip a generation, both my husband and daughter could inherit the gene.

After speaking with my mother-in-law she shared with me the information she had obtained. In her family the disease was only carried by the female gene and since she did not have the defective gene she would not pass it on to her family and therefore none of her children would develop it. This definitely made me feel very much more confident and she was right none of her ten children developed the disease.

A few years later we had a visit from another of my mother-in-laws brothers. He came to the city where we lived to find employment. He lived with us for about six months during which time it became quite evident that he had signs of the disease. He had problems holding down jobs, employers would accuse him of drinking on the job when it was the symptoms that caused him appear drunk. After he had fallen down the stairs and had fallen just walking around my husband suggested he go to a doctor. When he did it was confirmed he had Huntington's unfortunately as soon as he discovered he had the illness it progressed very rapidly and although he moved home to stay with his father it was not long before he was placed in a facility.

Several years later the last and youngest brother was diagnosed, he did have a loving wife and family who managed to keep him home and around them for quite a few years. Of course by this time, there were some drugs as named in my article this week that could ease the symptoms quite a bit. In fact his life span and quality of live had improved from that of his siblings with the disease.

Out of the family of six only my mother-in-law and her sister did not receive the gene. Since the disease in this family was only carried by the female gene, only the one sister passed it on to her family. It is with regret that I have to write that half of her family is already showing signs.

Caring for someone with Huntington's disease can be both time consuming and exhausting. However, there is assistance out there for you. Call the Social Services department in your state or province or contact the local chapter of the Huntington's Society and they can arrange to get you help and support.