Venezuelan Kindreds Reveal Genetic and Environmental Factors Influence Onset of Huntingtons D isease New York, New York March 2, 2004 The age at which Huntingtons disease starts is not solely determined by the Huntingtons disease gene, as previously believed, but is strongly influenced by genetic and environmental factors, according to new findings from a team led by Columbia University Medical Center researcher and president of the Hereditary Disease Foundation Dr. Nancy Wexler. To Huntington's Disease Researchers: The Hereditary Disease Foundation is pleased to announce its biennial symposium - "HD2004: Changes, Advances, and Good News (CAG) n - on August 12-15, 2004, Royal Sonesta Hotel, Cambridge, MA "HDF Commits Over $20 Million in 2003 to Find New Treatments and a Cure for Huntington's Disease." See Our Latest Newsletter, Available Now! .pdf version (3.7MB) .jpg version Click below to donate to our effort.
Our program includes research grants, John J. Wasmuth postdoctoral fellowships, Milton Wexler postdoctoral fellowships, the Lieberman Award, as well as our fast-track Cure HD Initiative (CHDI). A centerpiece of the Foundation is the program of interdisciplinary Mary Jennifer Selznick workshops held many times during the year. These small, informal, free-wheeling workshops foster dialogue among researchers, from a variety of fields, who come without prepared lectures or slides to converse across disciplinary borders. The Hereditary Disease Foundation focuses on Huntington's disease, a fatal, autosomal-dominant neurological illness causing involuntary movements, severe emotional disturbance and cognitive decline. Huntington's disease usually strikes in mid-life, in the thirties or forties, although it can also attack children and the elderly. There is no treatment to halt the inexorable progression, which leads to death after ten to twenty-five years. Because it is an autosomal-dominant disorder, each child of a parent with Huntington's disease has a 50% risk of inheriting the illness. In the United States, the prevalence of the disease is about 10 cases per 100,000 people - about 30,000 people in all. There are another 150,000 individuals at risk. | |
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