Huntington's chorea Med.
[f. the name of George Huntington (1851–1916), American neurologist, who described it in 1872 + chorea.]
A rare hereditary disease of the brain manifested in middle age and characterized by irregular body movements, disturbance of speech, and progressive dementia. Also Huntington's disease.
| 1889 Jrnl. Nerv. & Mental Dis. XVI. 69 To Huntington has generally been accorded the credit of first describing hereditary chorea, and writers even speak of the affection as ‘Huntington's chorea’. 1892 Jrnl. Mental Sci. XXXVIII. 560 Cases of hereditary chorea (Huntington's disease). 1969 New Scientist 10 July 80/2 The onset of Huntington's chorea usually occurs rather late in reproductive life, at around 40 years of age. 1972 New Yorker 29 Jan. 30/3 Woody Guthrie..died, in 1967, after a fifteen⁓year battle with Huntington's disease. |