Spotlight on Huntington's Disease Society of America

Huntington's Disease – a devastating, hereditary, degenerative brain disorder for which there is no cure or treatment – slowly diminishes an affected individual's ability to walk, talk and reason. This disease affects young and old alike. Currently, one out of every 10,000 Americans has HD and approximately 200,000 Americans are at risk for developing the disease. The first step of moving toward developing an effective treatment is to understand how the disease works. One of those dedicated to advancing knowledge of HD is Dr. Madeline Harrison, Director of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America’s Center of Excellence at the University of Virginia. Dr. Harrison sat down with Community Health Charities to discuss the work HDSA is doing to fight the disease, the progress being made by those dedicated to HD research and a bill that HDSA is currently advocating to the U.S. Congress.