Systemic Symptoms in Huntington's Disease: A Comprehensive Review

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Genetics
• Systemic Illness

Background:

• Huntington's disease (HD) is increasingly recognized as a systemic illness impacting the entire body.
• Beyond the classic triad of motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms, HD involves widespread physiological effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and highlight the systemic, non-motor symptoms associated with Huntington's disease.
• To draw attention to the full spectrum of HD's impact on patient health.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of MEDLINE (1966-2023) using keywords related to Huntington's disease and systemic/autonomic symptoms.
• Critical review of 123 articles focusing on cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, urinary, sexual, and cutaneous manifestations.

Main Results:

• Identified numerous systemic and autonomic co-morbidities in Huntington's disease patients.
• Observed that these co-morbidities do not always correlate with HD symptom severity or CAG repeat length.

Conclusions:

• Huntington's disease presents with diverse systemic and autonomic co-morbidities.
• Further research is essential to elucidate the pathophysiology and develop effective treatments for these systemic dysfunctions in HD.