Huntington's disease

American  

[huhn-ting-tuhnz di-zeez] / ˈhʌn tɪŋ tənz dɪˌziz /

noun

Pathology.

1. a hereditary disease of the central nervous system characterized by brain deterioration resulting in involuntary movement and unsteady gait, cognitive impairment and memory decline, and depression or other alterations in mood, with symptoms usually appearing in the fourth decade of life. HD

---

Huntington's disease British  

/ ˈhʌntɪŋtən /

noun

1. Former name: Huntington's chorea.  a rare hereditary type of chorea, marked by involuntary jerky movements, impaired speech, and increasing dementia

---

Etymology

Origin of Huntington's disease

Named after George S. Huntington (1850–1916), U.S. physician, who described it in 1872

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Huntington's disease

Earlier this month, uniQure said the FDA had reversed course on its Huntington’s disease gene therapy, clearing a path to file for accelerated approval after previously requesting a new trial.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

No vitamin K derived drug has yet been shown to repair the brains of people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or Huntington's disease.

From Science Daily ● May 27, 2026

Prasad had reportedly been involved in the decision to request a new trial for uniQure’s experimental gene therapy for Huntington’s disease.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 9, 2026

Federal health officials, facing criticism from lawmakers for recent rejections of rare-disease drugs, attacked an Amsterdam-based biotech company seeking approval of a Huntington’s disease treatment and accused it of lying.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026

In the 1980s, human geneticists begin to use these techniques to map and identify genes linked to diseases, such as Huntington’s disease and cystic fibrosis.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee