Is Huntington's disease the same as St. Vitus dance?

HD History

HD was known as Huntington's chorea and Saint Vitus's dance in the past.

What is St. Vitus dance called now?

We start with a disease originally known as St. Vitus dance but is now called Sydenham chorea . This childhood movement disorder is an inflammatory response to strep throat or rheumatic fever and is characterized by rapid, involuntary, irregular movements of all muscles except those that move the eyes.

Does Huntington's disease have another name?

Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is a neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited.

Does St. Vitus dance still exist?

In the current nomenclature Saint Vitus' dance or chorea (from the Greek χορεíα for dance) has been largely displaced by the eponym Sydenham's chorea.

Are Parkinson's and Huntington's related?

Abstract. Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease are both model diseases. Parkinson's disease is the most common of several akinetic-rigid syndromes and Huntington's disease is only one of an ever growing number of trinucleotide repeat disorders.

Living with Huntington's disease

What's the difference between Parkinson's and Huntington's?

Huntington's disease is genetic and results from a mutated gene that a person usually inherits from a parent. In contrast, Parkinson's disease can occur due to a variety of genetic and environmental factors. Both conditions involve involuntary motor symptoms.

What is St. Vitus known for?

St. Vitus is widely venerated as the patron saint of epilepsy. He is also the patron saint of dancers, actors, comedians, oversleeping, boilermakers, Sydenham's chorea (Saint Vitus' Dance), and several cities including Prague and Rijeka.

Is Sydenham chorea permanent?

Because Sydenham chorea is a complication of rheumatic fever, some individuals will have additional symptoms of joint arthritis or arthralgia, inflammation of the heart valves causing permanent damage to the valves, and ongoing fever. Sydenham chorea symptoms usually resolve within three weeks to six months.

What triggers Huntington disease?

Huntington's disease is a progressive brain disorder caused by a single defective gene on chromosome 4 — one of the 23 human chromosomes that carry a person's entire genetic code. This defect is "dominant," meaning that anyone who inherits it from a parent with Huntington's will eventually develop the disease.

What is the difference between Huntington's disease and Huntington's chorea?

Summary. Chorea is a primary symptom of Huntington's disease. Although it is often associated with the disease, it has other possible causes, including pregnancy, certain medications, and other underlying conditions, such as hyperthyroidism. Huntington's disease is a progressive disease that develops slowly.

What race is Huntington's disease most common in?

Frequency. Huntington disease affects an estimated 3 to 7 per 100,000 people of European ancestry. The disorder appears to be less common in some other populations, including people of Japanese, Chinese, and African descent.

What illness is Saint Vitus dance?

Sydenham chorea, also known as St. Vitus dance, is a neuropsychiatric manifestation of rheumatic fever with an incidence varying from 5 to 35%. It may occur alone or concomitantly with other manifestations of rheumatic fever.

Why is it called St. Vitus dance?

St. Vitus' Dance, which began exactly 637 years ago last Friday, is also a medical condition known as Sydenham chorea, named after the doctor who discovered it. The disease seemed to resemble the manic dancing that took place in Europe in honor of St. Vitus, the patron saint of entertainers.

Can you have chorea without Huntington's?

In addition to these clinical presentations, an HD-like phenotype has been reported in a small percentage of patients. In some populations, especially those of European ancestry,^6,–8 this appears to be the commonest identified cause of non-HD chorea.

How common is St. Vitus dance?

It is reported to occur in 20–30% of people with acute rheumatic fever and is one of the major criteria for it, although it sometimes occurs in isolation. The disease occurs typically a few weeks, but up to 6 months, after the acute infection, which may have been a simple sore throat (pharyngitis).

What does Sydenham chorea look like?

Sydenham chorea mainly involves jerky, uncontrollable and purposeless movements of the hands, arms, shoulder, face, legs, and trunk. These movements look like twitches, and disappear during sleep. Other symptoms may include: Changes in handwriting.

What miracles did Saint Vitus perform?

Vitus Dance. He is represented as a young man with a palm-leaf, in a cauldron, sometimes with a raven and a lion, his iconographic attribute because according to the legend he was thrown into a cauldron of boiling tar and molten lead, but miraculously escaped unscathed.

Why is Vitus a saint?

VITUS, the son of a pagan Sicilian senator, was converted to Christianity by his nurse and later martyred. He became the patron saint of nervous disorders for casting an evil spirit out of the son of the Emperor Diocletian.

What does the word Vitus mean?

Vitus is a Latin given name meaning lively and may refer to: Vitus, a Christian saint. Vitus of Hungary, beatified friar.

What is the life expectancy of a person with Huntington's disease?

The time from the first symptoms to death is often about 10 to 30 years. Juvenile Huntington's disease usually results in death within 10 years after symptoms develop. The clinical depression associated with Huntington's disease may increase the risk of suicide.

Is Huntington's disease like Alzheimer's?

Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's Chorea, is an inherited progressive form of dementia. The disease, first described by Dr. George Huntington in 1872, is a predominantly inherited one. Although Alzheimer's disease (AD) can be inherited too it is not a single gene cause as in HD.

Is Huntington's disease a form of dementia?

Rarer causes of dementia. Huntington's disease is an inherited genetic condition that causes dementia. It causes a slow, progressive decline in a person's movement, memory, thinking and emotional state.

What is the difference between MS and Huntington's disease?

Neuropsychological studies of patients with HD typically reveal impairments in memory, conceptual reasoning, and mechanical aspects of language. On the other hand, demyelinization in MS may occur anywhere within the central nervous system, but it most often affects the white matter in periventricular areas (Rao, 1990).

Is Huntington's disease fatal?

Huntington's disease is a condition that stops parts of the brain working properly over time. It's passed on (inherited) from a person's parents. It gets gradually worse over time and is usually fatal after a period of up to 20 years.