Chorea is one of the most common and debilitating motor symptoms experienced by people with Huntington's Disease. Tetrabenazine (TBZ) has been the drug of choice for treating chorea in 10 countries for more than a decade. However, TBZ has not been widely used in the U.S. because, until recently, the drug had not been approved by the FDA for the treatment of chorea. In August of 2008, the FDA approved a form of TBZ, called Xenazine, for the treatment of chorea, making the drug available to HD patients in the U.S. TBZ is also available under the name Xenazine in Europe and Australia, and under the name Nitoman in Canada. According to reports from countries where TBZ has been used for a longer period of time, 80% of patients show an improvement in chorea. It is important to note that TBZ treats some of the symptoms of HD but is not a cure because it does not affect the underlying mechanisms or progression of the disease.
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