Chorea Treatment

Chorea causes involuntary, irregular, and unexpected muscular movements. In some cases, patients may feel restless or fidgety and may even appear to be dancing (the name ‘chorea’ derives from the Greek word for ‘dance’).

Associated Anatomy

Basal ganglia

Signs or Symptoms of Chorea Disease

Involuntary muscle movements: Body parts commonly involved in fidgety or dance-like movements include the feet, hands, and face. Walking, eating, and talking all suffer as a result.

Milkmaid’s grip: Because it appears like you’re milking a cow, it is a common way to shake someone’s hand.

Speech issues: Slurred speech occurs when the muscles that make speech lose coordination.

Headaches and seizures: Chorea may cause seizures and headaches in children.

Causes of Chorea

Excessive Dopamine: Basal ganglia control movement. Too much dopamine in the basal ganglia causes chorea.

A family history of Huntington’s disease: You are 50% likely to have Huntington’s if you have a parent with it. It affects people aged 40 to 50.

Rheumatic fever in children: Untreated strep throat in children and adolescents causes Sydenham chorea.

Other medical conditions: Chorea is a symptom of autoimmune illnesses, hormone imbalances, and metabolic imbalances.

Options Available for Chorea Treatments

Medications: Some drugs stop your body from using dopamine receptors, and several of them tend to reduce chorea.

Surgeries: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) also helps with Chorea Treatment as an alternative to surgery. Implanted brain electrodes regulate electrical impulses.

If the medicine doesn’t work, your doctor may suggest DBS reduce its symptoms.

Home care: The chorea increases the falling risk. Install non-slip surfaces on stairs and in restrooms to avoid injuries.

Risk Factors of Chorea

Rheumatic Fever: Sydenham chorea develops one to eight months after rheumatic fever. Untreated group A streptococcal infection develops Rheumatic fever.

Medications: Numerous drugs, including levodopa and neuroleptics linked to chorea. Antipsychotic drugs may potentially produce chorea due to tardive dyskinesia.

Toxins: Poisoning by CO, mercury, or alcohol may produce chorea.

Older age: Chorea may occur in elderly persons for unknown reasons. The muscles in and around the mouth are particularly vulnerable to senile chorea, a degenerative disease of old age.

Huntington’s disease: It causes personality changes, speech, coordination, memory issues, and chorea and The disease’s symptoms worsen with time.

Possible Complications of Chorea

Chorea may have serious complications. Huntington’s illness is progressive and incurable. Lupus has no cure, but physicians can help patients manage it with drugs. Children with Sydenham chorea resulting from rheumatic fever typically recover without problems.

Various Stages of Chorea

Early-stage: Early-stage chorea patients may work, drive, manage money, and live independently. Some symptoms at this stage are uncontrollable movements, a slight lack of coordination, and trouble solving complicated issues.

Middle stage: In middle-stage chorea, patients lose their ability to work, drive, manage finances, or carry out household chores. However, they can still eat, dress, and take care of personal hygiene with some help. Patients may have trouble with voluntary motor movements. Issues like difficulty swallowing, maintaining balance, weight loss, and even falling may occur. Individuals may find it difficult to sequence, arrange, or prioritize information, and problem-solving becomes difficult.

Late-stage: Late-stage chorea patients need help with all the daily tasks. Despite being nonverbal and bedridden in the latter stages, patients appear to maintain some comprehension. Chorea may become severe and followed by rigidity, dystonia, and bradykinesia. Late-stage psychiatric disorders are often harder to detect and treat because patients face communication issues.

Typical Tests Required For Chorea

Your doctor may order tests for infections, lupus, thyroid, and other endocrine and metabolic issues. He can also advise MRI or CT scans to look for abnormalities in the brain. Tests to check whether the patient inherited the Huntington’s gene from the parents are also done.

Some Prevention Tips For Chorea

The chances of blood cancer may increase due to the below:

Primary Prevention

• It is caused due to the mutation of the HTT gene. Since genes can’t be changed, there is not any concrete prevention.
• In the case of children, a check-up for sore throat could prevent rheumatic fever. If prescribed for strep throat, antibiotics should be taken as advised by the doctor.

Secondary Prevention

• Avoid rheumatic fever

Strep causes sore throats in children. Keep taking antibiotics as instructed by your child’s doctor if they have strep throat.

Epidemiology

The worldwide incidence specific to chorea is unclear. However, around 5-10, people per 100,000 in the US are diagnosed with a neurological autosomal dominant condition.

Expected Prognosis

Chorea causes progressive impairment. No form of therapy that currently exists is known to delay, halt, or reverse this condition. Infections (most typically pneumonia) and accidents from falls are the most common causes of mortality in chorea.

Natural Progression

Chorea is a movement disorder that occurs because of various medical conditions. While it is not life-threatening, it may indicate a neurological disorder like Huntington’s disease.

Chorea can be a short-term or long-term ailment, depending on the cause.

Medications can control irregular muscular movements.