Researchers at the University of Barcelona, Spain, have found mutations in a protein that can be linked to Huntington’s disease, a neurodegenerative condition that currently has no cure.
In the study, scientists used a new imaging technique which allowed them to visualise individual neurons, in a mouse model of the disease for the first time.
Their images showed that a mutation in lamin B1, a protein known to be associated with other diseases that cause premature aging, could be found at an abnormally high amount in the neurons of the diseased mice.
The team hope that identification of lamin B1 as a target for Huntington’s disease might open new potential treatment opportunities in the future.
My husband was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s and early stage Huntington's disease. He is aware of what is going on some of the time but he refuses to bathe or do any of the things the doctors tell him. He could hardly get around because all he does is sit in front of the TV all day. He refuses to go for a walk or to a senior center and he refuses to bathe. I was beside myself as we cannot go anywhere when he is dirty and stinks. I didn’t know what to do, I could not physically overpower him and make him do things and when I ask him he tells me I am not his boss.…