Motor Symptoms
Part 1

The motor changes associated with Huntington’s disease

What are the motor symptoms that occur with HD?

The progression of HD is different in every individual, but the following list contains most of the physical conditions that occur frequently in adult-onset HD. Keep in mind that not everyone with HD will experience all symptoms, and the progression from stage to stage is only a generalization. The time it takes to move from one stage to the next is also highly variable. It is important to note as well that juvenile HD exhibits motor symptoms that can be quite different from the adult form. (For more information on juvenile HD, click here).

Early stage

• Changes in coordination
• Some involuntary movement (such as irregular, sudden jerks of limbs)
• Fidgeting
• Restlessness, desire to move about
• Twitching, muscle spasms, tics
• Less control over handwriting
• Facial grimaces
• Difficulty with coordinated activities, such as driving
• Some rigidity

• Dystonia (prolonged muscle contractions), often of the face, neck, and back
• More involuntary movements
• Trouble with balance and walking
• Chorea, twisting and writhing motions, jerks
• Staggering, swaying, disjointed gait (can seem like intoxication)
• Speech difficulties, including poor articulation, grunting, and abnormal speech patterns
• Problems swallowing
• Trouble with activities that require manual dexterity
• Slow voluntary movements, difficulty initiating movement
• Inability to control speed and force of movement
• Slow reaction time
• General weakness

• Rigidity
• Bradykinesia (difficulty initiating and continuing movements)
• Severe chorea (less common)
• Serious weight loss
• Inability to walk
• Inability to speak
• Swallowing problems, which create danger of choking
• Inability to care for oneself

Though HD is not fatal in and of itself, the conditions that it causes can eventually lead to death. One of the most serious concerns for people with late stage HD is loss of control of the throat muscles. This condition makes swallowing difficult, and ultimately, dangerous. Everyone’s body is constructed with two tubes that begin below the throat; one, the esophagus, leads to the stomach, and the other, the trachea, leads to the lungs. Usually, we have no trouble making sure that food passes through our esophagus and not into our trachea. We do this without thinking, and rarely does something go "down the wrong pipe." For people with late stage HD, however, this process of sorting food and air often functions poorly. As a result, food can get caught in the trachea and lead to choking. If food gets caught in the lungs, it can lead to an infection known as aspiration pneumonia. Although most people recover from pneumonia, people with HD usually have compromised immune systems, and therefore are unlikely to recover from such a severe infection. (For more information on other potential complications of HD, click here.

If you would like to learn more about the specifics of motor symptoms and how they are used to diagnose and assess the stage of HD, click here).

Click here to return to the The Diagnosis of Huntington's Disease page.

Last Modified: 04/12/2007

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