There is no cure for the disease, but there are symptomatic treatments. The management of patients is based on pharmacological and rehabilitative treatments and the establishment of an appropriate medical-social framework.
The management of Huntington’s disease is multidisciplinary in order to respond to all the symptoms of the patient and to help him or her in his or her daily life. A national diagnostic and care protocol serves as a basis for caregivers to provide optimal support to patients and their families.
Since Huntington’s disease is progressive, end-of-life care must be discussed and planned early with the patient’s family and friends.
The search for curative therapies for the disease is very active, and new avenues are now being explored that offer hope.
Reference centres are key to improving patient management, advancing research and raising awareness of disease issues. The reference centre for neurogenetics, within the Brain Team, which brings together rare pathologies of the central nervous system, is coordinated by Professor Alexandra Durr at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital and Paris Brain Institute.
Drug treatments
Antipsychotics can partially suppress chorea and agitation. Antidepressants, anxiolytics or mood modulators can help with psychiatric disorders such as depression or anxiety.
At Paris Brain Institute
An energy deficit has been identified in Huntington's disease. Dr. Fanny Mochel and Professor Alexandra Durr have shown the effects of a synthetic oil on brain metabolism in the disease. Initial results are very encouraging and a larger scale study is still under way.
Alexandra Durr’s team is conducting a Phase I/II therapeutic trial to correct a defect in a key enzyme in cholesterol metabolism through a viral vector approach introduced into patients’ brains.
