How to Care for a Huntington's Disease Patient

Huntington's disease, a destructive, degenerative and hereditary brain disorder, has no effective cure or treatment. Huntington's disease (HD) slowly weakens the person's ability to reason, talk, think and walk. Eventually, the affected person becomes totally reliant on others to care for them. Huntington's disease affects all family members' lives, socially, physically, economically and emotionally.

Things You'll Need

• Knee pads
• Ankle weights
• Shoes without laces
• Pureed foods

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Instructions

• 1

  Learn about the beginning symptoms of Huntington's disease. These symptoms affect mobility or the thought process and include mood swings, clumsiness, forgetfulness, lack of coordination and twitching. Patients with HD are often underdiagnosed and undertreated for the behavioral aspects of the disease.

• 2

  Watch what the patient eats. Diet affects energy level and the ability to fight diseases. If the patient consumes too much saturated fat or trans fat, the nerve cell materials may be unable to receive messages. Replacing these foods with unsaturated fat increases the ability of the nerve cell to send along necessary messages and delays the progression of HD.

• 3

  Educate as many people as possible to help them to understand that many people who begin to show the movement disorder seen in HD look as if they are intoxicated due to clumsy gait or slurred speech.

• 4

  Repeat words back to the person with HD. They need to know that you understand them since expression of thought can be affected as the disease progresses. Keep them involved in their environment and get a speech therapist if needed.

• 5

  Help the person afflicted with HD stay physically fit with a daily exercise program. Regardless of poor coordination, they should keep walking even if they need help. Wearing safety items such as knee pads can help protect them from injuries. Ankle weights can help keep them stable have them wear shoes without laces that can be put on easily.

• 6

  Allow plenty of time for them to eat. People with HD have difficulty swallowing and may even choke on their food. Soften or puree foods and cut them into small pieces. Limit dairy foods as these increase the production of mucus which adds to the risk of choking.

• 7

  Provide plastic cups that have a top or plates with suction cups to help prevent spilling that may occur as a result of loss of coordination. Help with feeding as the disease advances to assure that the person is getting the most calories they can.