First drug for Huntington’s disease gets FDA approval
Published in: Health News
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Tags: brain disease, chorea, FDA approval, Hungtington, Hungtington's disease, orphan disease, Tetrabenazine
Hungtington is a rare brain disease. It was first described 136 years ago. This disease affects 30,000 people in the USA and is treated as an orphan disease.
The brain cells affected by Hungtington’s disease degenerate because of a genetic miscue. It results in jerky involunary movements known as chorea.
The drug tetrabenazine treats chorea. Tetrabenazine is produced by Prestwick Pharmaceuticals in Washington, D.C. High doses of tetrabenazine can lead to depression and suicidal thoughts and exacerbate chorea.
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Kelly Said,
November 8, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
Thanks for the information on Huntington’s disease. Finally! A treatment!!!
We recently wrote an article on Huntington’s Disease at Brain Blogger. Out of all the people who have Huntington’s Disease, less than 10% are under 20. It may not seem like that much more of an important factor, but it makes the struggle so much harder.
We would like to read your comments on our article. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kelly