Hello everybody,

It's been a long time since I last posted something here on HDLF and first of all I want to wish a Happy New Year to everybody!

I have read mikee's post about him struggling with HD even if he has a low CAG count of 36. And that probably the head injury was the "firestarter" for him (excuse me for the term).

I am a 24 years old at-risk male who had several head injuries in his childhood and teenage years. The biggest head injury that i have is the one that i got on my forehead, stitched two times, and in form of a cross. Maybe it is God's good sign, who knows ?

And i had several head injuries like hitting my head in the iron radiator, a childhood friend smashed the iron door on my head, i had several "rock attacks" to my head, etc...

Can these injuries cause as much harm as he sufferd from falling the ladder and becoming unconscious? I have to mention that i never been unconscious from these injuries.

Any ideeas???

Can't give a medical opinion but here's my take on it. I am much older therefore probably more susceptible to the head injury. I've hit my head numerous times over the years and there is no way to be absolutely certain that the fall triggered HD. It is only one of the doctors opinions that it could contribute. Being at risk is bad enough but I believe if you ever show symptoms you will know it.
Mike

Head trauma is thought by many to initiate motor neuron diseases such as ALS, a disease with many similarities to HD in terms of progression. One hypothesis is that some traumas may temporarily disrupt the blood-brain barrier that isolates the central nervous system from the general circulation and expose nerve tissues directly to mis-folded proteins therein. These mis-folded proteins may then seed a cascade of mis-folding in the nerves that eventually disrupts their function. Perhaps all of the body's cells are experiencing this cascade but the motor neurons are just the first to fail.

Applying this model to HD, a CAG of 36 might produce a mis-folding cascade that would normally only produce HD symptoms at an age beyond the human lifespan. Perhaps a severe head trauma moves the time-table up substantially though this is only pure speculation.

@mikee and @remig - Thank You for the responses.

I do not think I would worry about this if I were you. There are enough reports of serious head injuries followed by HD onset that I think that would be a concern but that didn't happen to you, you didn't become symptomatic. One of the insidious things that happens with brain injury is that sometimes the damage is more than one would expect (even if the person doesn't have the HD gene). Damage to the brain can trigger apoptosis and extend cell loss beyond the immediate injured area. There is speculation that since brain cells are more vulnerable in HD, that an injury can cause a disproportionate amount of brain cell loss, thus triggering the onset of the disease.

Again, this is speculation, but I have noticed that where HD onset appears to have been triggered by a brain injury, that the person's problems tend to be mostly physical ones, with some minor cognitive symptoms, but with little or no psychiatric problems. I wonder if that's true across the board or if this just happened to be true with the people that I know.

Thanks for everybodies responses!

@Marsha: What do you mean through serious head injuries? It is always followed by unconsciousness?

I am thinking of car accidents or falls down steps or being hit by a car or similar things. I don't think I've ever asked anyone about whether they were unconscious.

Hey guys, I was unconscious for a short period. Really didn't realize it at the time. This did not come into the picture until many months after symptoms. A friends sister has her Phd in Audiology and we talked for months. I was desperate for an answer and described everything to her on several occasions. She always came back to the head injury and symptoms not fitting the "box". Even over the phone she did not believe it was Menieres, it was more than that due to symptoms. I attempted posturography and could not get a base line. Eventually I could. I remember being grabbed by the waistline numerous times to stop face plants. I actually thought I was doing pretty good during the test.

All of thphysiciansns I saw during the two plus years dismissed head injury immediately since I didn't have problems within ten days. Go figure.....food for thought.

Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2013 08:42PM by mikee.

My husband got run over by a five ton on a very rainy dark night while he was station in Korea, he said he was unconscious for a few second then they took him to the enfermery and give him five stiches on his fordhead, he wa around twenty years old he got HD at 47 years old it has been two and half years, I just wonder if that hit make him get it sooner his CAG 44.

I don't blame you for wondering. I don't know your age now but I can tell you every Dr I saw dismissed the head injury until I got to Vestibular therapy and Mayo. Odd, I was misdiagnosed twice, had surgery once yet they wouldn't back off the original diagnosis or they said they didn't know what was wrong. Go figure......Good luck......I don't bash the medical community it is filled with a tremendous amount of knoweldable professionals. Unfortunately some people don't know how to say I was wrong and ego becomes more important than issue.
Mike

Though the CAG count is a guideline, it is not a sure thing. My husband has a CAG of 43 and was symptomatic at 38yrs or earlier. He is now mid stages at 43 yrs old. No history of brain injury that I know of.