Huntington's Disease

[tmwskyline]

Could this be caused by HD?

[jahn]

I was told that it could- BUT, then after a few years will deminish greatly

[JeanEMiller]

To my knowledge "persisant" sexual arousal is not a symptom of HD itself. I would have the person see a physician to determine what the cause might be as it might be a medication they are taking, etc.

There may be some problems in sexuality issues with someone who has HD. It's not something a lot of people are willing to openly discuss. One of the best resources to help someone understand would be to read Dr. Jane Paulsen's "Understanding Behavior in Huntington's Disease". Section III General Approaches To Solving Behaviour Problems in HD discusses Sexuality in HD. Below are some resources that cover this topic which I hope helps.

Jean

Sexuality in HD Resource:

Understanding Behaviour Changes In Huntington's Disease
http://huntingtondisease.tripod.com/understandingbehaviour/
By Dr. Jane Paulsen
Section III General Approaches To Solving Behaviour Problems in HD
Sexuality
Although changes in sexual behaviour are often uncomfortable to discuss with family, friends and professionals, they are very common in persons with HD. Changes in the brain can be associated with changes in sexual interest and functions.

Some persons with HD report that they have increased sexual drive whereas others report diminished sexual interest. Increased promiscuity can be secondary to disinhibition, poor judgement, or impulsivity. Decreased sex drive can be secondary to depression, apathy, or an inability to initiate activity. Although the reasons for sexual behaviour changes are not fully understood, changes in sexual functioning often need to be addressed.

Physician's Guide to Huntington's Disease
http://huntingtondisease.tripod.com/physiciansguide/
Chapter 5 - The Psychiatric Disorder
Bottom of page - Sexual Disorders
Many patients with HD become uninterested in sexual activity. Others may continue to enjoy healthy sexual activity well into the course of the illness. Occasional patients may desire and pursue excessive sexual activity or engage in inappropriate sexual behaviors, such as public masturbation, or voyeurism.

The Juvenile HD Handbook
A Guide for Physicians, Neurologists and Other Professionals
http://huntingtondisease.tripod.com/juvenilehandbook/
Chapter 3 – Specific Medical Issues
Behavioral and Psychiatric Issues. - Sexuality
Adolescent is a difficult time even for children who do not have HD. Managing a changing physical appearance, new and confusing sexual urges and desires, learning how to interact with peers who are undergoing similar changes, and moving away from relationships with parents into strong relationships with other adolescents or adults are tall tasks for any teenager. Facing these challenges with a disability that diminishes the ability to communicate and to understand new information, and leads to impulsive or disruptive behavior, it is far more challenging. ...as many adolescents with HD are sexually promiscuous but not fully aware of the potential consequences of their sexual activity.

The JHD Handbook published by the Canadian HD Society
http://huntingtondisease.tripod.com/juvenilehandbook/
"Poor judgment about sexual behavior may also be a problem, especially for more mobile adolescents. Families may find it difficult to believe that the young person has an organic impairment of judgment and cognition because he/she is not confused or disoriented. Families will often accept a superficial psychological explanation more readily than a more complex one. Adolescents with HD who have behavior problems often act impulsively."

Huntington Disease Dementia
Excerpt from full article found here: http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3111.htm
Psychiatric symptoms are prominent in patients with HD, as follows:
Symptoms range from personality alterations to mood disorders, aggressiveness, hypersexuality or impotence, alcoholism, and psychosis, including schizophrenia.

Eccentricity, inappropriateness, loss of social amenities, excess irritability, and sexual hyperactivity can mark the early stages.
Sexual Problems in HD - HDA Fact Sheet 11
www.hda.org.uk/download/acrobat/hdafs011.pdf
Discusses common experience difficulties in the area of sexual relationships in HD families.

Huntington's Disease - The Merck Manual
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch091/ch091i.html
Symptoms - excerpts: Mental changes are subtle at first. People with the disease may gradually become irritable and excitable; they may lose interest in their usual activities. They may be unable to control their impulses, losing their temper, having fits of despondency, or becoming promiscuous.

None HD Specific

[Dementia] Special Problems: Inappropriate Sexual Behavior
http://james.psych.umn.edu/%7Egrecc/sexual.htm
Living with the problem - If the person in your care begins to act in sexually inappropriate ways, then your care giving role has gotten harder. When such behavior occurs, the impaired person's sexual interest will usually be self-centered. It will likely not be caring or tender. If you are the object of this kind of sexual interest, you may feel torn between wanting to respond and feeling abused.

[JeanEMiller]

There was one more reference I forgot to add yesterday:

The Behavioral Changes Associated with Huntington’s disease
Stanford University Huntington’s Outreach Project for Education [HOPES}
Altered Sexuality

A very common behavioral symptom of HD is altered sexuality. One possible cause of this symptom is that HD damages the brain’s ability to regulate the amount of sex drive a person has. Another possible cause is that the delicate balance of hormones in the brain is disrupted by the progression of HD, causing changes in behaviors regulated by hormone levels. Most commonly, people with HD suffer from a decreased sex drive. Increased sex drive and inappropriate sexual behavior are less common alterations of sexuality resulting from HD.

While altered sexuality can be due to the progression of HD, a decreased sex drive may also be caused by depression or apathy, other behavioral symptoms of HD. Inappropriate sexual behavior can be secondary to disinhibition. However, the inheritance of HD does not cause an end to one’s sexuality.

In the largest and most comprehensive study to date on the behavioral symptoms of HD [Crauford, D., Thompson, J., & Snowden, J. "Behavioral Changes in Huntington’s Disease" 2001] confirmed that behavioral symptoms are common among patients with HD. The data obtained in this study also indicate that HD may result to some extent in altered sexuality.

For 62% of participants, reduced or absent sexual desire was a reported behavioral change.
Just 5% and 6% of participants reported disinhibited and inappropriate sexual behaviors, respectively.