Neurological disorder causing irregular, involuntary, purposeless movements. It is believed to be caused by degeneration of the basal ganglia in the cerebral cortex. Sydenham chorea (St. Vitus dance) is usually associated with rheumatic fever. It usually occurs between ages 5 and 15, more often in girls. Typical jerking movements, mostly in the extremities and face, may affect speech and swallowing and range from mild to incapacitating; attacks last several weeks and recur frequently. Senile chorea, a progressive disease resembling Sydenham chorea, usually occurs late in life. Huntington chorea is rare, hereditary, and fatal. It usually begins between ages 35 and 50 and progresses to random, often violent, and eventually totally incapacitating spasms, absent only during sleep. Mental deterioration begins later, and death occurs in 10-20 years. There is no effective therapy. Children of those afflicted have a 50% chance of developing the illness
Any of various disorders of the nervous system that are characterized by a continuous sequence of rapid, jerky movements that appear choreographed but are involuntary
They begin with occasional jerking or writhing movements, which are absent during sleep, and progress to random, uncontrollable, and often violent twitchings and jerks. Symptoms of mental deterioration begin later and include memory loss, dementia, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia. There is no effective therapy or cure, and the disease invariably proves fatal. A child of a person with Huntington chorea has a 50% chance of developing the disease
Relatively rare, hereditary neurological disease that is characterized by irregular and involuntary movements of the muscles. Huntington chorea is caused by a genetic mutation that causes degeneration of neurons in a part of the brain that controls movement. Symptoms usually appear between ages 35 and