Neuropsychiatry - Huntington Disease

Dr. O'Leary reviews one of the most frustrating diseases that a patient and their family might approach a psychiatrist with: Huntington’s Disease.  Huntington’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, which means that over the course of the disease neurons die or cease to function correctly and this worsens over time.   The death of neurons in the caudate nucleus and putamen results in choreiform or dance-like movements of the extremities which earned it the moniker “Huntington’s Chorea." Huntington's Disease can result in many psychiatric symptoms and these may start to occur during the prodromal stage before the choreiform movements develop.  Sleep disturbances, apathy, executive dysfunction, memory impairment, personality change, irritability and aggression, disinhibition and impulsivity (including hyper-sexuality), depression, mania, delusions, paranoia and other psychotic symptoms, obsessions and compulsions, and most prominently a high risk of suicide.Please leave feedback at https://www.psydactic.com or send any comments to [email protected] and readings (when available) are posted at the end of each episode transcript, located at psydactic.buzzsprout.com.  All opinions expressed in this podcast are exclusively those of the person speaking and should not be confused with the opinions of anyone else.  We reserve the right to be wrong.  Nothing in this podcast should be treated as individual medical advice.