What is the Difference Between Parkinson’s Disease and Huntington’s Chorea

The key difference between Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s chorea is that Parkinson’s disease is a condition that causes rigidity and slowed movements in people while Huntington’s chorea is a condition that causes cognitive and psychological problems.

Motor symptoms usually affect movement and balance. These symptoms may include tremors, stiffness, and slowness of movement. Moreover, these symptoms can be seen by other people. Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s chorea are two conditions that are characterized by motor symptoms.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Parkinson’s Disease
3. What is Huntington’s Chorea
4. Similarities – Parkinson’s Disease and Huntington’s Chorea
5. Parkinson’s Disease vs. Huntington’s Chorea in Tabular Form
6. FAQ – Parkinson’s Disease and Huntington’s Chorea
7. Summary – Parkinson’s Disease vs. Huntington’s Chorea

What is Parkinson’s Disease?

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder that normally affects the nerves controlling body parts. The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are tremors, slowed movement, rigid muscles, impaired posture and balance, loss of automatic movements, speech changes, and writing changes. Moreover, Parkinson’s disease is caused by certain gene changes, environmental triggers, and other changes, such as the presence of Lewy bodies and alpha-synuclein found within Lewy bodies. The risk factors for Parkinson’s disease are age (more common in adults), heredity, sex (men affected more), and exposure to toxins (pesticides and herbicides).

Parkinson’s disease can be diagnosed through medical history, a review of the symptoms, and a neurological and physical examination. Furthermore, the treatment options for Parkinson’s disease may include carbidopa-levodopa, dopamine agonists, monoamine oxidase B inhibitors, catechol O-methyltransferase inhibitors, anticholinergics, amantadine, adenosine receptor antagonists, and nuplazid.

What is Huntington’s Chorea?

Huntington’s chorea is a rare, inherited disease that affects nerve cells in the brain, leading to progressive degeneration of nerve cells. The symptoms of this condition may include involuntary jerking movements, muscle problems such as rigidity and muscle contracture, slow or unusual eye movements, difficulty organizing or focusing on tasks, lack of flexibility, feelings of irritability, lack of impulse control, social withdrawal, insomnia, fatigue, recurrent, intrusive thoughts, and repetitive behaviors, alternating episodes of depression and mania. Moreover, Huntington’s chorea is caused by an inherited difference in a single gene. The risk factors for Huntington’s chorea include having a biological family history in which the parents are affected by Huntington’s chorea.

Huntington’s chorea can be diagnosed through blood tests, genetic testing, and imaging tests such as MRI and CT scans. Furthermore, treatment options for Huntington’s chorea are physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, counseling, and medications such as tetrabenazine, deutetrabenazine, haloperidol, antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers.

What are the Similarities Between Parkinson’s Disease and Huntington’s Chorea?

• Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s chorea are two conditions that are characterized by motor symptoms.
• Both conditions can be inherited.
• They can cause complications.
• Both conditions can be diagnosed through physical symptom evaluation and imaging testing.
• They can be treated through specific therapies and medications.

What is the Difference Between Parkinson’s Disease and Huntington’s Chorea?

Parkinson’s disease is a condition that causes rigidity and slowed movements in people, while Huntington’s chorea is a condition that causes cognitive and psychological problems in people. Thus, this is the key difference between Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s chorea. Furthermore, the risk factors for Parkinson’s disease are age (more common in adults), heredity, sex (men are affected more), and exposure to toxins (pesticides and herbicides). On the other hand, the risk factors for Huntington’s chorea include having a biological family history in which the parents are affected by Huntington’s chorea.

The infographic below presents the differences between Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s chorea in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

FAQ: Parkinson’s Disease and Huntington’s Chorea

Can Huntington’s disease be mistaken for Parkinson’s?

Misdiagnosis can occur at the later stages of Huntington’s disease due to abnormally low dopamine levels showing similar symptoms.

What are the symptoms of Huntington’s disease?

Difficulty in concentrating and memory lapses, depression, and stumbling and clumsiness are symptoms of Huntington’s disease.

What are the signs of Parkinson’s disease?

Tremors, slowed movement, rigid muscles, impaired posture, and balance, loss of automatic movements, speech changes, and writing changes are signs of Parkinson’s disease.

Summary – Parkinson’s Disease vs. Huntington’s Chorea

Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s chorea are two conditions that involve defects in the central nervous system. These conditions affect how brain cells work. Moreover, these conditions may cause similar motor symptoms such as tremors, limb stiffness, difficulty walking or talking, and problems with thinking. Parkinson’s disease causes rigidity and slowed movements in people, while Huntington’s chorea causes cognitive and psychological problems in people. So, this summarizes the difference between Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s chorea.

Reference:

1. “Huntington’s Disease.” National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Parkinson disease symptoms” By CarrotsMitHummus – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Huntington disease ubiquitin” By Jensflorian – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia