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Why Effective Therapies are Possible
By Don Lamont, CEO & Executive Director Horizon
This article represents a layman’s view
about why meaningful treatments, and perhaps even a cure, will
likely be available to the Huntington
community within the next decade. The answer lies with the nature of
Huntington’s disease (HD), leadership, resources and the collective strategy
and process being followed to
find solutions.
While HD is a devastating illness, we are
fortunate in the sense that we have a clear target that can be traced back to a
specific gene. Other disorders
often have various starting places and that can complicate their journey.
Since the gene was identified back in 1993 more research has been done in
the past 13 years than had been done in the previous 120 years.
The HD movement is highly motivated and
driven to succeed, and this is moving people to act now. When people know
how devastating HD is and
then see the potential to find solutions, it fuels an acute sense of urgency.
Many leaders in the family, donor and scientific communities across the
world have stepped forward to meet the challenge. These people want to
make a difference and dream of the day when significant, life changing
therapies
are found.
One such individual is the multi
million-dollar philanthropist behind the High Q Foundation and CHDI in the USA.
Both are relatively new on the scene,
but have quickly become driving forces within the worldwide movement. The
Huntington Society of Canada (HSC), has mounted a special five-year campaign,
the Road to Triumph, involving chapters, families and the community in
raising $17 million. A dedicated portion of their campaign is devoted to the
international
research effort.
The universal goal for the discovery
strategy is to rapidly find therapies that slow or stop the progression of
HD. The process being followed by the HD
community to achieve this goal is first rate. There has been a great deal
of collaboration internationally. Various international co-ordinating bodies or
forums
have been created – International Huntington
Association, Huntington Study Group, and The Huntington
Project. As a result there has not been as much
unproductive overlap and duplication in the search as there might have been
otherwise. Instead, scientists have learned from one another and produced
greater
synergy and focus – and this also hastens the discovery process.
Article reproduced with the kind permission of The
Huntington Society of Canada
N.B. See our Links Page for further details of Global Research
Centres and their research activity
N.B. See our Links Page for further
details of Global Research Centres and their research activity
Scottish Huntingtons Association,
Thistle House, 61 Main Road,
Elderslie, PA5 9BA,
Tel; 01505 322245,
email: sha-admin@hdscotland.org.uk
The Scottish Huntington's Association is
a Registered Charity: No 121496.