Posted on 09/24/2025 11:09:56 AM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie
One of the cruellest and most devastating diseases – Huntington's – has been successfully treated for the first time, say doctors.
The disease runs through families, relentlessly kills brain cells and resembles a combination of dementia, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease.
An emotional research team became tearful as they described how data shows the disease was slowed by 75% in patients.
It means the decline you would normally expect in one year would take four years after treatment, giving patients decades of "good quality life", Prof Sarah Tabrizi told BBC News.
The new treatment is a type of gene therapy given during 12 to 18 hours of delicate brain surgery.
The first symptoms of Huntington's disease tend to appear in your 30s or 40s and is normally fatal within two decades – opening the possibility that earlier treatment could prevent symptoms from ever emerging.
Prof Tabrizi, director of the University College London Huntington's Disease Centre, described the results as "spectacular".
"We never in our wildest dreams would have expected a 75% slowing of clinical progression," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Did Arlo inherit it?
It uses mRNA gene therapy place directly into the brain.
Huntington’s is a 50/50 risk of inheritance. But If you don’t inherit the gene, your children are home free.
Count me out. That will never enter my body.
I knew a woman whose family suffered from this. Her grandfather, father, one uncle, twin brother and another brother all di3ed from Huntington’s. She was determined to not have children, to avoid passing it on.
If you have the Huntington’s gene, I think you might reconsider anything that slows the progression.
It’s a pity big pharma got stupid greedy and wanted to strut it’s stuff by showcasing a not ready for prime time mRNA vaccine that didn’t work and then lied and lied and lied about it.
They did more long term harm to their industry’s bottomline than they are willing to admit.
https://www.johnpauljrhd.com/
Just had dinner with my best friend who is in the late stages of Huntington’s. Her mother had it and my friend made sure she didn’t have children. Went with her for the first battery of tests decades ago but not enough info to decide if she’d get it. Some years later, she redid the tests and her husband was her support. Devastating. We watched her mother go thru that. She’s late onset but it’s hitting hard now.
She was my first computer language design teacher and was president of Computational Linguistics. Ran a conference in Italy. Taught me to shoot which was a way for her to judge any neurological symptoms. Wrote gun articles for years for Arming Women Against Rape and Endangerment.
Even 10 years ago, she guided my Professor Emeritus researcher into looking at paired phonemes (sound at the end of one word paired with the sound at the start of the next - a way of identifying tongue movement when reciting aloud) when we were doing statistical research to prove the authorship of Night Before Christmas. She and I translated all the poetry of both contenders into phonemes.
Suddenly, she can barely speak and barely move. But she’s still happy in the love of her husband and she’s pure joy to be around for the love in her eyes. She’s been a guinea pig for researchers for so many decades and I can’t wait to pass this link onto her. One of the more hopeful ones I’ve seen. Many, many thanks.
The disease runs through families, relentlessly kills brain cells and resembles a combination of dementia.
Looks like the left have something to blame their actions on ?
And the dog broke the lamp
mRNA gene therapy is currently being tested for lots of “hopeless” diseases. Good on that. It was not indicated to be used to stop a viral disease by mucking about in someone’s genetic machinery. A terrible and inconsiderate stance to have been taken. The clowns who pushed and mandated it through, and their brain dead, (at least as mRNA is concerned) promoters are guilty of malfeasance of the most extreme order.
Huntington's runs in my family. In 1992, when my first wife was pregnant with our first daughter, we found out that my mom had it. Fortunately, we lived near Johns Hopkins Hospital which has a Huntington's Disease Center. In 1992 you had to submit to a battery of tests to determine if you were a carrier. I was not willing to do so - there was a psychological component to the testing and I was not sure if I wanted to know. However, my daughter, who is now 32, did get tested and does not have the gene - which means I don't have it. If she had tested positive, it's likely I would have already been showing symptoms.
While at Hopkins in '92, the social worker in charge showed me a hand-drawn, meticulously researched genealogy of my mother's ancestry - tracing it back to about the American Civil War - indicating probable Huntington's victims. My daughter, through the LDS website, FamilySearch.org, has found much the same information. I learned that one of my mother's brothers had HD.
My mom did pass it to one of my brothers - he has since passed away, but his health situation was compounded with the fact he was also HIV positive. What was heartbreaking was seeing his deterioration from the disease: the nursing home that took care of him put him on a feeding tube because of dysphagia - robbing him of one of the few pleasures he had left - eating food. You could tell he understood what was being said and that his brain was engaged, but HD destroyed his ability to communicate. The disease is truly devastating, and any progress towards a cure is great news.
Two of my in-laws got Huntington’s.
Bkmk
My dad moved out west and didn’t keep in touch with the family, but was always in the Smart people, so I didn’t realize there were any problems.
I had 2 daughters before I found out my family had it, but in our family, it shows up late, instead of young like some people.
There is a genetic test available now.
I took the test and do, have it.
But I’m prolife, so I’m glad I have been alive, and there is always hope for cures, so this is good news!
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