Abstract

ESPINOZA-SUAREZ, Nataly R; PALACIOS-GARCIA, Jimmy  and  MORANTE-OSORES, María del Rocío. Palliative care in Huntington´s disease: Perspective from primary health care. Rev Neuropsiquiatr [online]. 2016, vol.79, n.4, pp.230-238. ISSN 0034-8597.  http://dx.doi.org/10.20453/rnp.v79i4.2977.

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease, hereditary in nature, characterized by progressive motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms which appear mainly in adulthood and result in serious physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and economic consequences in patients and caregivers. Its global prevalence is estimated in 7-10 per 100000 population, but in the Cañete Valley of Perú, it has reached up to 40 per 100,000 inhabitants. The cure for HD is not yet available but there are many treatment options for symptomatic relief aimed at improving the patient’s quality of life. It is in this context that palliative care measures emerge as a relevant alternative; defined by the World Health Organization as a set of care approaches that, through preventive and suffering attenuation, assist efficaciously both, patients and their relatives, in facing the problems associated with life-threatening diseases. Despite the importance of involving the population in the research of this disease, our country lacks adequate resources for treatment and patient support. Improving end of life care is a modern challenge that requires increasing the training of health and community professionals, increased funding for the care and development of relevant policies.

Keywords : Huntington disease; palliative care; chorea.

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