Huntington's Disease, ischemia and swallowing blockage: what to do?
Domanda
Good evening.
My mom found out she had Huntington's chorea in 2004, as her 3 brothers did. She underwent genetic tests that confirmed the disease. Since then she has always refused any treatment. On 27/11/2016 she was affected by cerebral ischaemia and since then she has been treated at the Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia and then moved to the Maugeri Institute in Via Boezio in Pavia for rehabilitation. Since 14/02/2017 she passed to the Santa Margherita Institute in Pavia for the continuation of rehabilitation. As a matter of facts, ischemia has caused, among other things, the block of swallowing. Now we have been advised to evaluate a residential care unit (Residenza Sanitaria Assistenziale, RSA) for definitive hospitalization.
I wanted to ask you for advice on the best solution for my mother.
I thank you in advance.
My mom found out she had Huntington's chorea in 2004, as her 3 brothers did. She underwent genetic tests that confirmed the disease. Since then she has always refused any treatment. On 27/11/2016 she was affected by cerebral ischaemia and since then she has been treated at the Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia and then moved to the Maugeri Institute in Via Boezio in Pavia for rehabilitation. Since 14/02/2017 she passed to the Santa Margherita Institute in Pavia for the continuation of rehabilitation. As a matter of facts, ischemia has caused, among other things, the block of swallowing. Now we have been advised to evaluate a residential care unit (Residenza Sanitaria Assistenziale, RSA) for definitive hospitalization.
I wanted to ask you for advice on the best solution for my mother.
I thank you in advance.
Risposta
Good morning. Our advice is to continue to provide the mother with stimuli and interactions regardless of the ischemic event and to assess whether the difficulty of swallowing may depend on the evolution of the disease and concomitant therapies, rather than on ischemia.
