Huntington’s Disease Support Group meets April 11 at OSF St. Anthony

From press release

The Huntington’s Disease Support Group generally meets the second Sunday of every month at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center. Next meeting is from 2-4 p.m., Sunday, April 11, in the St. Anthony Room at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center.

Regular meetings are open to those who suffer from Huntington’s disease, their family members, caregivers and healthcare professionals. Huntington’s disease is a genetic disorder causing degeneration of the basal ganglia, paired nerve cell clusters in the brain, often in midlife. This degeneration leads of symptoms of rapid, involuntary, jerky movements and dementia. Symptoms generally do not develop until patients are 35 to 50 years old, often after they have passed the gene on to their children.

Today, the gene mutation that causes Huntington’s disease has been identified, and people who have a parent with the disease can be tested to see if they have inherited it. Drugs can relieve symptoms and control behavior, but there is currently no cure. For information, call (815) 282-0600.

OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, a Level I Trauma Center, is owned and operated by OSF HealthCare, an affiliate corporation of The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, Peoria. The Medical Center Web site is www.osfsaintanthony.org.

From the April 7-13, 2010 issue