Investigators at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Centre for Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics (CMMT) and BC Children’s Hospital have examined more than 25 years of data to reveal new insights into predicting the age of onset for Huntington disease.

“This discovery may enable us to provide families with additional information,” said lead author Galen Wright, a research associate in the UBC faculty of medicine, CMMT and BC Children’s. “It could also potentially improve disease management by providing genetic counsellors with valuable data in the future.”

What is Huntington disease?

Huntington disease is an inherited disorder that affects one in approximately 7,000 Canadians. For every affected person, there are four to five individuals that carry the gene mutation that causes the disease, but are not yet ill. The disease often begins around age 40. Symptoms include motor, cognitive and psychiatric changes.

Read more at University of British Columbia