Chorea or rigidity nearly always is present. Personality changes may be prominent in some patients. Patients with depression may be at risk for suicide. The disease is slowly but inexorably progressive. Typical life expectancy is 10-25 years after diagnosis.
Many local chapters exist.
While true that the disease develops if the gene is inherited, the odds of inheritance are 50-50. EDs are poor venues for counseling. Defer counseling to a setting that allows confirmation of the diagnosis, follow-up care, and genetic counseling. No rapid ED test for the definitive diagnosis of HD exists. A failure to refer a patient who has an initial HD presentation to a neurologist invites problems.