Tetrabenazine

Laura called me today about an article she had read in the Life section of the USA Today. The article is about a new drug for Huntington's Disease. Since I have had other people ask me about it, I thought I would tell you all about it. Tetrabenazine is not a new drug. It has been prescribed by doctors and bought in other countries for several years. It has taken several years to get approved in the US because of the side affects. Tetrabenazine also does not treat the disease, it treats one symptom of the disease - chorea. Chorea is the uncontrollable movements that can become debilitating for some people. Laura asked me if I was taking this medicine and I am not. It is not recommended that you treat chorea unless it is causing problems and my movements are not that significant. Unless you count rubbing holes in the sheets from constant leg movements while I'm trying to get to sleep! This is very exciting for the HD community because it is the first drug ever labeled specifically for Huntington's Disease. It was very confusing, however, for some of the HD patients because when they heard there was a drug for HD, they thought it meant there was a cure. If you get a chance, look up the article, there is some interesting information about how hard it has been to find drug companies to even want to work with HD because there is little money in it. When I went to USAToday.com, I couldn't find it in the Life Section so I searched under tetrabenazine. I want to thank all of you for caring! Thanks for asking Laura!