Psychosocial Impact On Individuals And Their Partner Living With Huntington’s Disease

As Huntington’s Disease is an autosomal dominant trait means that the individual suffered from HD liable to passed on the mutated gene to his or her offspring. For every affected individual, approximately 3 to 4 or more of his or her offspring are at risk of carrying the mutated gene that causes the disease. Therefore, those who suffered from HD should decide themselves whether to conceive or begin a family.

However, more often than not since those affected often developed cognitive problem or too demented to come up with a wise decision without medical guidance. In majority of the cases, they end up divorced owing to psychosocial and intellectual decline of the affected individual. Rarely was the carrier told the future partner of the family disease with psychosocial implication and thus subsequently led to separation. A research work from Dewhurst, Oliver and Mcknight (1970) demonstrated that among individuals with Huntington’s Disease, violent and social indiscretion contributed to almost half of the total psychiatric hospital admissions. 38% of them end up divorced and required to detain on compulsory order to mental hospital or mental institution due to behavior disorders. The unaffected siblings and offspring also became victims of their disturbed behavior as either they died young by completed suicide, became psychotic, psychopathy, chronic alcoholism, sexual abberations or even involved in criminality. Their children were at risk of potential carrier of the Huntington gene. More importantly in majority of the sufferers critically neglect of children, sexually abused their children and even violence toward their children including attempted homicide and infanticide. Early dementia in males led to social drift to unemployment whereas in females led to neglect of children and home.

The majority of women suffered from Huntington’s Disease, the illness started to manifest at the age of 31 to 50 still within fertile child bearing age but the insidious onset of the illness hinders their cognitive function and impair the birth control whereas in men their hypersexuality might hinders the effective way of birth control. Hence, if a member of a Huntington’s family wants to get marry, he or she should informs his or her prospective partner of the genetic possibilities to avoid detrimental effect to their family in the future. Moreover, our country should set up regional register for Huntington’s families so that appropriate advice as well as help in early detection, prevention as well as eugenic implication to the disease.