Quality of Life

The average life of someone with Huntington's is completely normal until the symptoms start to develop, and then it all goes downhill.  It starts out with slight, uncontrollable muscle movements, clumsiness, and lost short-term memory.  It then starts to advance to irritability, mood swings, depression, and uncharacteristic aggressive behavior.  As the disease progresses, the symptoms advance and become worse and worse.  The slight muscle twitches become a lot more pronounced, the depression worsens, the mood swings become even more noticeable, weight loss starts to ensue, and difficulty with speech and swallowing follow.  The patient will no longer want to do anything and the simplest of tasks become impossible. Full nursing is eventually required.  The immune system shuts down, and death is normally caused by a secondary disease.  The last years of someone with Huntington's are nearly unbearable.