Huntington's disease
3
4.9
- noun
- /ˈhʌntɪŋtənz dɪˈziːz/
- Specialized
:
enfermedad de Huntington
- In the U.S., it's estimated that there are between 35 thousand and 50 thousand people affected with Huntington's disease.
- Huntington's disease gene
Examples
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Until now, Huntington's disease has been fatal, marked by uncontrollable movements and progressive dementia.
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Huntington's disease is a genetic late onset nerve degenerative disease.
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In the U.S., it's estimated that there are between 35 thousand and 50 thousand people affected with Huntington's disease.
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Coincidentally, when I started this journey, I was the same age as my father when he first started showing signs of Huntington's disease.
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Huntington's disease is an autosomal dominant genetic disease, which means that those who carry the gene are bound to develop it.
Academic text (2011) -
Felix's great-great grandmother suffered from Huntington's disease.
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Huntington's disease affects the central nervous system and causes involuntary jerky movements and double vision.
Academic text (2012) -
There is no curative treatment for Huntington's disease, although antidepressants, movement suppressants, and antipsychotics have a place.
Academic text (2011) -
Predictive Huntington's testing means that you don't have any symptoms and you're at 50/50 risk for developing Huntington's disease, and you want to know if you have the gene.
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Huntington's disease affects the central nervous system and causes involuntary jerky movements and double vision.
Synonyms
1
8.7
A brain disease that runs in families and causes uncontrolled movements and gradual loss of memory and thinking
Surface Forms
Morphology
Huntington's + disease
The phrase pairs an eponymous proper name ('Huntington's') with 'disease', so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will correctly infer it denotes an illness named after a person. However, the specific clinical meaning (a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder with movement, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms) cannot be derived from the constituents, giving only partial understanding.
Etymology
Huntington's disease is named after the American doctor George Huntington, who in 1872 described a strange condition that ran in families and caused jerky movements and changes in thinking. Because he showed it was passed down from parents to children, the name now means the 'inherited' disease that affects movement and the mind.