Huntington Disease Dementia Glossary of Terms

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Abnormal: Outside the expected norm, or uncharacteristic of a particular patient.

Antidepressant: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression.

Antidepressants: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression.

Antipsychotic: A medication (or another measure) that is believed to be effective in the t...

Anxiety: A feeling of apprehension and fear, characterized by physical symptoms such as pa...

Atrophy: A wasting away or diminution. Muscle atrophy is a decrease in muscle mass, often ...

Autosomal: Pertaining to a chromosome that is not a sex chromosome. People normally have 2...

Autosomal dominant: A pattern of inheritance in which an affected individual has one copy ...

Basal ganglia: A region of the base of the brain that consists of three clusters of neuron...

Base sequence: The particular order of nucleotide bases in a DNA molecule.

Baseline: Information or data gathered at the beginning of a period from which variations ...

Benzodiazepines: A class of drugs that act as tranquilizers and are commonly used in the t...

Body type: A somewhat old-fashioned term used to classify the human shape into three prima...

Brain: The portion of the central nervous system that is located within the skull. It func...

Cerebrospinal fluid: A watery fluid that is continuously produced and absorbed and that fl...

Chorea: Ceaseless rapid complex body movements that look well coordinated and purposeful ...

Chromosome: A carrier of genetic information that is visible under an ordinary light micro...

Chromosomes: The microscopically visible carriers of the genetic material. They are compos...

Cognitive: Having to do with thought, judgment, or knowledge.

Computed tomography: An x-ray procedure that uses the help of a computer to produce a deta...

CT scan: Computerized tomography scan. Pictures of structures within the body created by a...

Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. 2. A time withou...

Dementia: Significant loss of intellectual abilities, such as memory capacity, that is sev...

Deoxyribonucleic acid: DNA. One of two types of molecules that encode genetic information...

Depression: An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that affects the way...

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid. One of two types of molecules that encode genetic information...

Dopamine: An important neurotransmitter (messenger) in the brain.

Eye color: The color of the iris. The genetics of eye color are complicated. Eye color is ...

Family history: The family structure and relationships within the family, including inform...

Father: (1) The male parent. (2) One who originates. For example, "Wilhelm Roentgen is con...

Gene: The basic biological unit of heredity. A segment of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) need...

Genes: The basic biological units of heredity. Segments of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) nee...

Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic
information.

Genetic counseling: An educational counseling process for individuals and families who hav...

Genetic counselor: A health professional who has a graduate degree or specialized training...

Genetic disease: A disease caused by an abnormality in an individual's genome.

Guanine: One of the four bases in DNA that make up the letters ATGC. Guanine is the "G". T...

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

Heart failure: Inability of the heart to keep up with the demands on it and, specifically...

Huntington disease: An hereditary disorder with mental and physical deterioration leading ...

Hyperactivity: A higher than normal level of activity. An organ can be described as hyper...

Insomnia: The perception or complaint of inadequate or poor-quality sleep due to a number ...

Intelligence quotient: An attempt to measure the intelligence of someone. Abbreviated IQ....

Internist: A physician who specializes in the diagnosis and medical treatment of adults. T...

Juvenile: Between infantile and adult. Used in medicine to indicate onset in childhood, as...

Lethargy: Abnormal drowsiness, stupor.

Long-term care facility: A facility that provides rehabilitative, restorative, and/or ongo...

Lumbar: Referring to the five lumbar vertebrae, the disks below them, and the correspondin...

Lumbar puncture: A procedure in which cerebrospinal fluid is removed from the spinal canal...

Magnetic resonance imaging: A procedure that uses magnetism, radio waves, and a computer t...

Mania: An abnormally elevated mood state characterized by such symptoms as inappropriate...

Marker: A piece of DNA that lies on a chromosome so close to a gene that the marker and t...

Medical history: 1. In clinical medicine, the patient's past and present which may ...

Memory: 1. The ability to recover information about past events or knowledge. ...

Metabolism: The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within a living organism. ...

MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging.

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Mutation: A permanent change, a structural alteration, in the DNA or RNA. In humans and m...

Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses electrical and chemical signals to transmit sensory an...

Neurological: Having to do with the nerves or the nervous system as, for example, a neurol...

Neurologist: A physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of th...

Neurology: The medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders o...

Neurotransmitter: A chemical that is released from a nerve cell which thereby transmits an...

Nursing: 1) Profession concerned with the provision of services essential to the maintena...

Nursing home: A residential facility for people with chronic illness or disability, partic...

Onset: In medicine, the first appearance of the signs or symptoms of an illness as, for ex...

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Physical therapist: A person who is trained and certified by a state or accrediting body t...

Pneumonia: Inflammation of one or both lungs, with dense areas of lung inflammation. Pneum...

Protein: One of the three nutrients used as energy sources (calories) by the body. Protein...

Proteins: Large molecules composed of one or more chains of amino acids in a specific orde...

Psychiatrist: A physician who specializes in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of m...

Psychiatry: The medical specialty that is concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, and tr...

Psychosis: In the general sense, a mental illness that markedly interferes with a person'...

Quality of life: The patient's ability to enjoy normal life activities. Quality of life is...

Quotient: The result of mathematical division.

Respiratory: Having to do with respiration.

Respiratory failure: Inability of the lungs to perform their basic task of gas exchange, t...

Reuptake: The reabsorption of a secreted substance by the cell that originally produced an...

Rule out: Term used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from considera...

Scan: As a noun, the data or image obtained from the examination of organs or regions of...

Sensation: In medicine and physiology, sensation refers to the registration of an incoming...

Sequencing: Determining the order of nucleotides (base sequences) in a DNA or RNA molecule...

Serotonin: A neurotransmitter that is involved in the transmission of nerve impulses. Sero...

Sleep: The body's rest cycle.

SPECT: An acronym that stands for Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, a nuclear me...

Spinal cord: The major column of nerve tissue that is connected to the brain and lies with...

Spinal tap: Also known as a lumbar puncture or "LP", a spinal tap is a procedure whereby ...

Stress: In a medical or biological context stress is a physical, mental, or emotional fact...

Stroke: The sudden death of brain cells due to lack of oxygen, caused by blockage of blood...

Suicidal: Pertaining to suicide. the taking of ones own life. As in a suicidal gesture, su...

Symptom: Any subjective evidence of disease. In contrast, a sign is objective. Blood comin...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Tomography: The process for generating a tomogram, a two-dimensional image of a slice or s...

Trait: In genetics, a trait refers to any genetically determined characteristic. In techni...