Huntington's disease: prenatal screening for late onset disease.

Huntington disease: prenatal screening for late onset disease.

Huntington's disease: prenatal screening for late onset disease.

This article presents a set of moral arguments regarding the selective abortion of fetuses on the basis of prenatal screening for late onset genetic diseases only, and for Huntington's Disease* in particular. After discussion of human suffering, human perfection and the distinctive features of the lives of people confronting late onset genetic disease, the author concludes that selective aborti...

Ethical considerations of population screening for late-onset genetic disease.

Population-based genetic screening has been a mainstay of public health in the United States for many years. The goal of genetic screening is to identify individuals at increased risk for treatable diseases. The evolution of genetic testing to include multi-disease panels allows for new screening applications which challenge the traditional model of clinical genetics care by the identification ...

Mutational Screening in Exon 6 of the PSEN2 Gene in Iranian Patients with Late-Onset Alzheimer\'s Disease

Background and Aims: One of the most important genes involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the presenilin2 (PSEN2) gene, which is one of the main constituents of the gamma-secretase complex. Mutations in this gene promote the formation of amyloid plaques resulting in AD. The study aimed to evaluate the mutation variant in exon 6 of the PSEN2 gene in patients with Late-Onset AD (LOAD). Due to ...

Late onset of Huntington's disease.

Twenty-five patients with late-onset Huntington's disease were studied; motor impairment appeared at age 50 years or later. The average age at onset of chorea was 57.5 years, with an average age at diagnosis of 63.1 years. Approximately 25% of persons affected by Huntington's disease exhibit late onset. A preponderance of maternal transmission was noted in late-onset Huntington's disease. The c...