Woody Guthrie & Huntington's Disease

Years back, I gather it was around the early eighties, we became a Bob Dylan idolist and followed his discography along with Eric Clapton, religiously. Then as one grows out of things and situations, I grew out of Bob Da and got interested on his main influencer and mentor - Woody Guthrie. Woody Guthrie was also introduced to a new audience by Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and Arlo Guthrie. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his guitar. Guthrie traveled with migrant workers from Oklahoma to California and learned traditional folk and blues songs. Many of his songs are about his experiences in the Dirty Thirties era during the Great Depression. He was also one of the best known Hobos. Digging more I found out that Woody Guthrie suffered from Huntington's disease. So I decided to divert my digging.

HD is an incurable neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and some cognitive functions, typically becoming noticeable in middle age. It is the most common genetic cause of abnormal involuntary writhing movements called chorea. It is much more common in people of Western Europe descent than in those from Asia or Africa. The disease is caused by a dominant mutation on either of the two copies of a specific gene, located on chromosome 4. Any child of an affected parent has a 50% risk of inheriting the disease. In rare situations where both parents have an affected gene, or either parent has two affected copies, this risk is greatly increased. Physical symptoms of Huntington's disease can begin at any age from infancy to old age, but usually begin between 35 and 44 years of age.

The exact way HD affects an individual varies and can differ even between members of the same family, but the symptoms progress predictably for most individuals. The earliest symptoms are a general lack of coordination and an unsteady gait. As the disease advances, uncoordinated, jerky body movements become more apparent, along with a decline in mental abilities and behavioral and psychiatric problems. Physical abilities are gradually impeded until coordinated movement becomes very difficult, and mental abilities generally decline into dementia. Although the disorder itself is not fatal, complications such as pneumonia, heart disease, and physical injury from falls reduce life expectancy to around twenty years after symptoms begin. Full-time care is often required in the later stages of the disease, but there are emerging treatments to relieve some of its symptoms.

There is no cure for HD.