Huntington S Disease

A courtroom drama written by four Northeast High School students illustrating how science affects everyday life will be distributed nationally on videotape by the National Institutes of Health for use in classroom teaching."

It was just a twitch - a muscle that danced wildly on the side of her left thigh while she sat in front of the television one afternoon. But, as Toi Mason recalls, the tiny shudder struck her with a fear so intense that she prayed for it to be still. "I was sitting on the couch when I started to feel it move," said Toi, 21, a senior at Temple University in Philadelphia. "All I could think of was, `Oh no, please, God, don't let this be it. Please don't let this happen to me now.' " Ever since she was a teenager, Toi has been living with the terrifying possibility that she will succumb to Huntington's disease: a rare, neurodegenerative illness that wages a slow and gruesome assault on the body and mind.

IN THE EVENING, after a long day of work, after feeding the children, after cleaning the dishes, Cynthia "Cindy" Walters prepared to bathe daughter Candy while her son Wayne Jr. waited in the next room. Candy is 20. She has lost her mobility and much of her mind. Wayne is 26. He is on his way to his sister's fate. At moments such as this, Cindy Walters assures herself that God still cares. But, in her exhaustion and her anxiety, and her immeasurable sadness, the days are a series of ordeals.

On October 18, 2004, PEGGY RUTH BRADY, at Riverview Care Center, after an extended struggle with Huntington's Disease. Peggy was the daughter of the late Edward and Ruth Arnold, sister of Carolyn Block and Susan Church, Aunt of seven nephews. She graduated from Western High School in 1949, and Towson State University in 1991. She was a member of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks (and its successors) for more then 37 years. Interment at Lakeview Memorial Park was private. If friends desire to honor her memory contributions to the Huntington's Disease Society of America are suggested.

By the end of this decade, gene doctors promise to offer a kind of voyage into the future.Their "time machine" will be blood tests that will screen you for dozens of genes and provide a statistical peek at your health. Want to know the probability of getting certain diseases, from Alzheimer's to colon cancer to alcoholism? They will tell you.Scientists have touted such genetic information as a powerful tool. Armed with such knowledge, you could change your eating habits to reduce the risk of getting cancer or heart disease.

"This is not [just] hope for those who are afflicted. This is life," said one woman who suffers from Huntington's disease, upon hearing of the recent discovery of the renegade gene that triggers the malady. Her enthusiasm -- despite the fact that any potential cure is still years or even decades away -- suggests the extent to which this fatal inherited brain disorder blights the lives of families in which the disease has occurred.The genetic discovery, published in the scientific journal Cell, now makes it possible to conduct accurate screening for the gene, thus relieving the suspense of thousands of people at risk.

Lakewood, Colorado.LAST FALL, my wife Jesse and I received confirmation of a tragedy we had been dreading. We learned from a predictive genetic test that our unborn child had a 90 percent chance of developing Huntington's disease, a brain-destroying disorder that killed my grandfather and drove my father to suicide.tTC Suddenly, my wife and I found ourselves facing the most complex and agonizing decision a prospective parent can face. We had to choose between letting our baby grow up destined to die of a long and devastating illness -- or not letting him grow up at all.Of all the known hereditary diseases perhaps none generates more raw terror among those at risk than Huntington's disease, a neurological disorder whose most famous victim was Woody Guthrie.

SAD, FAMILIAR STORYEditor: As I read Arlene Ehrlich's story ["A Stricken Father, A Devastated Daughter"] in the Sun Magazine Sept. 15 I felt she was writing about my husband. What went through my mind was, "O God, is this Parkinson's or another case of misdiagnosed Huntington's disease?"The Huntington's Disease Foundation has been working the past 20 years to prevent this, but unfortunately it is still happening. For her sake I hope it is not the case.A. SherwoodBaltimoreWIDEN DJ COVERAGEEditor: . . . I read Mike Giuliano's article "Masters of the Music" (Sept.

On October 18, 2004, PEGGY RUTH BRADY, at Riverview Care Center, after an extended struggle with Huntington's Disease. Peggy was the daughter of the late Edward and Ruth Arnold, sister of Carolyn Block and Susan Church, Aunt of seven nephews. She graduated from Western High School in 1949, and Towson State University in 1991. She was a member of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks (and its successors) for more then 37 years. Interment at Lakeview Memorial Park was private. If friends desire to honor her memory contributions to the Huntington's Disease Society of America are suggested.

My older brother called from California to tell me that he may have Huntington's disease. I know it runs in families. What are the symptoms of this disease, and is there some way to know whether I will get it too?Huntington's disease is an inherited progressive disorder of the brain that is first manifest on average around age 40, but symptoms can begin in rare instances in childhood or as late as in the 80s.The three major symptoms are abnormal function of the nerves controlling muscles, deterioration of intellectual function (dementia)

Jane Potter Ruhl, a former North Baltimore resident and elementary school educator, died Monday of Huntington's disease, a genetic brain disorder, at a nursing home in Honolulu. She was 67. Born in Baltimore and raised in the Orchards section of North Baltimore, Miss Ruhl was a 1957 graduate of Eastern High School. Miss Ruhl's sister, Anne Ruhl Letchworth, who also suffered from Huntington's disease, died in February. Miss Ruhl received a bachelor's degree from Bucknell University and a master's degree in early childhood education.

As scientists are delving ever more into mankind's genetic code, Phillip Hardt is trying to keep certain people out of his. Hardt, 44, suffers from Huntington's disease, a deadly brain disorder caused by a tiny typo in his genetic alphabet. Because the disease is hereditary, his daughter found it tough to get life insurance. If she tested negatively for the Huntington's gene, insurers said, they'd reconsider her application. "And if that isn't discrimination, I don't know what is," says Hardt, a retired AlliedSignal Corp.

IN THE EVENING, after a long day of work, after feeding the children, after cleaning the dishes, Cynthia "Cindy" Walters prepared to bathe daughter Candy while her son Wayne Jr. waited in the next room. Candy is 20. She has lost her mobility and much of her mind. Wayne is 26. He is on his way to his sister's fate. At moments such as this, Cindy Walters assures herself that God still cares. But, in her exhaustion and her anxiety, and her immeasurable sadness, the days are a series of ordeals.

My older brother called from California to tell me that he may have Huntington's disease. I know it runs in families. What are the symptoms of this disease, and is there some way to know whether I will get it too?Huntington's disease is an inherited progressive disorder of the brain that is first manifest on average around age 40, but symptoms can begin in rare instances in childhood or as late as in the 80s.The three major symptoms are abnormal function of the nerves controlling muscles, deterioration of intellectual function (dementia)

By the end of this decade, gene doctors promise to offer a kind of voyage into the future.Their "time machine" will be blood tests that will screen you for dozens of genes and provide a statistical peek at your health. Want to know the probability of getting certain diseases, from Alzheimer's to colon cancer to alcoholism? They will tell you.Scientists have touted such genetic information as a powerful tool. Armed with such knowledge, you could change your eating habits to reduce the risk of getting cancer or heart disease.

A courtroom drama written by four Northeast High School students illustrating how science affects everyday life will be distributed nationally on videotape by the National Institutes of Health for use in classroom teaching."

Jane Potter Ruhl, a former North Baltimore resident and elementary school educator, died Monday of Huntington's disease, a genetic brain disorder, at a nursing home in Honolulu. She was 67. Born in Baltimore and raised in the Orchards section of North Baltimore, Miss Ruhl was a 1957 graduate of Eastern High School. Miss Ruhl's sister, Anne Ruhl Letchworth, who also suffered from Huntington's disease, died in February. Miss Ruhl received a bachelor's degree from Bucknell University and a master's degree in early childhood education.

It was just a twitch - a muscle that danced wildly on the side of her left thigh while she sat in front of the television one afternoon. But, as Toi Mason recalls, the tiny shudder struck her with a fear so intense that she prayed for it to be still. "I was sitting on the couch when I started to feel it move," said Toi, 21, a senior at Temple University in Philadelphia. "All I could think of was, `Oh no, please, God, don't let this be it. Please don't let this happen to me now.' " Ever since she was a teenager, Toi has been living with the terrifying possibility that she will succumb to Huntington's disease: a rare, neurodegenerative illness that wages a slow and gruesome assault on the body and mind.

"This is not [just] hope for those who are afflicted. This is life," said one woman who suffers from Huntington's disease, upon hearing of the recent discovery of the renegade gene that triggers the malady. Her enthusiasm -- despite the fact that any potential cure is still years or even decades away -- suggests the extent to which this fatal inherited brain disorder blights the lives of families in which the disease has occurred.The genetic discovery, published in the scientific journal Cell, now makes it possible to conduct accurate screening for the gene, thus relieving the suspense of thousands of people at risk.

SAD, FAMILIAR STORYEditor: As I read Arlene Ehrlich's story ["A Stricken Father, A Devastated Daughter"] in the Sun Magazine Sept. 15 I felt she was writing about my husband. What went through my mind was, "O God, is this Parkinson's or another case of misdiagnosed Huntington's disease?"The Huntington's Disease Foundation has been working the past 20 years to prevent this, but unfortunately it is still happening. For her sake I hope it is not the case.A. SherwoodBaltimoreWIDEN DJ COVERAGEEditor: . . . I read Mike Giuliano's article "Masters of the Music" (Sept.