Huntington's Disease Research Paper

Common misconceptions with Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease often lead to false health assumptions that are based on their similar symptoms. Huntington’s Disease (HD) and Parkinson’s Disease (PD) are neurodegenerative diseases that affect the motor sector of the nervous system. Both diseases affect the basal ganglia that are deep in the nuclei within the brain. While affecting the brain, both Huntington and Parkinson disease starts taking control of sudden movements and controls that are controlled by the brain. The causes of each disease are different but have similar paths that can be confused as both being the same disease. A surplus or absence of hormones is a direct result of the neural cell deterioration within the brain,

The gene that is responsible for the mutation that causes Huntington disease is HTT. The HTT gene is the provider in making the protein called (Huntingtin). The protein affects the neurons in the brain. The mutation that is responsible for Huntington’s disease is the Polyglutamine (PolyQ) expansion in the HTT protein. The HTT protein is the Huntingtin protein. When the PolyQ expansion goes into the HTT protein the neurological disorder begins to form. The HTT protein if it is mutated it will not create enough protein which plays an important role in the brains neurons. Although Huntington’s disease does have genes that cause the mutation, the mutation is then transmitted to one of the parents, which will eventually be inherited to the children. The way Huntington’s disease is inherited is because it has an autosomal dominant inheritance gene. The gene can either be inherited from either parent that has a mutant allele. Since Huntington’s Diseases is hereditary, it develops later on in life. Steven Finkbeiner states, “an individual harboring a genetic mutation could appear normal for decades before developing a mid-life neurodegenerative disease (Finkbeiner, 2011).” Since HD is hereditary, researchers do not understand why it develops later in life. The answer to this is that the expansion of the (PolyQ) database that expanded the HTT is insufficient which

However, there are some genetic factors that contribute with the development of Parkinson’s Disease, it is not a 100% genetic condition like Huntington’s Disease. The difference between Parkinson’s Disease and Huntington’s Disease, is the levels of Dopamine that Parkinson Disease releases when its chemical levels are unbalanced. This occurs due to the loss of control of the striatum (subcortical part of forebrain), which controls the levels of dopamine that control the movements in our body. Even thought, Parkinson’s disease is a Central Nervous system disorder, daily habits like smoking can also increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s Disease. Steven Finkbeiner quotes, “Both nicotine and caffeine increase striatal dopamine release, …(Finkbeiner, 2011)”, which explains the results of the research done for Nicotine Smokers to Non-Nicotine smokers. High intake levels of caffeine and nicotine increase a high and unbalanced amount of dopamine levels, which is one of the causes of the development of Parkinson’s disease. The results of unbalanced and high levels of dopamine are the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the