Friday, August 5, 2011

Is it possible to have Huntington's Disease without a family history of it?

Hello, I am a 21 year old male who's experiencing neurological symptoms which I believe to be indicative of Huntington's disease. In January I began to experience depression/anxiety. Furthermore, I have been having muscle twitching all over my body persistently everyday for the last 2 months now. These twitches occur at rest. I have also begun to have trouble swallowing, which gets progressively worse throughout the day. Similarly, I have severe pain underside my left leg which also gets worse throughout the day. Also, my body involuntarily jerks just before I am about to fall asleep, causing me to wake up. My symptoms are gradually getting worse and I feel trapped. Although my symptoms suggest Huntington's, my family history and genes suggest otherwise. There is no family history of Huntington's in my family, I am 21 years old, and I am not from a European background, where the incidence of this disease is a bit higher. So wouldn't the odds make it nearly impossible for me to develop this disease. Let's say for example I do have the disease, wouldn't it be nearly impossible for me to develop it at such an early age since I would hypothetically be the first in my family to have it? I have a neurologist appointment scheduled in 2 months, but the wait has been hell for me and my symptoms are getting worse by the day. I am lost and confused and it feels like I am losing my mind.. If anyone can offer any advice or some sort of explanation, it would help.

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