Huntington's disease in popular culture

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Huntington's disease has been shown in numerous formats, more so as awareness of the condition has increased. Here is a list of references to it in popular culture;

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntington's disease</span> Inherited neurodegenerative disorder

Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or mental/psychiatric abilities. A general lack of coordination and an unsteady gait often follow. It is also a basal ganglia disease causing a hyperkinetic movement disorder known as chorea. As the disease advances, uncoordinated, involuntary body movements of chorea become more apparent. Physical abilities gradually worsen until coordinated movement becomes difficult and the person is unable to talk. Mental abilities generally decline into dementia, depression, apathy, and impulsivity at times. The specific symptoms vary somewhat between people. Symptoms usually begin between 30 and 50 years of age, and can start at any age but are usually seen around the age of 40. The disease may develop earlier in each successive generation. About eight percent of cases start before the age of 20 years, and are known as juvenile HD, which typically present with the slow movement symptoms of Parkinson's disease rather than those of chorea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Livia Soprano</span> Fictional character from The Sopranos

Livia Soprano, portrayed by Nancy Marchand, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the mother of Tony Soprano. A young Livia, played by Laila Robins and later by Laurie J. Williams, is sometimes seen in flashbacks. Series creator David Chase has stated that the main inspiration for the character was his own mother. Vera Farmiga portrays a young Livia Soprano in the 2021 prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark.

<i>Weeds</i> (TV series) American dark comedy-drama television series

Weeds is an American dark comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan, which aired on Showtime from August 8, 2005, to September 16, 2012. The series tells of Nancy Botwin, a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family. Other main characters include Nancy's lax brother-in-law ; foolish accountant ; narcissistic neighbor living with her husband and their daughter ; as well as Nancy's wholesalers and Conrad Shepard. Over the course of the series, the Botwin family becomes increasingly entangled in illegal activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simpson family</span> Family of five fictional characters in animation series The Simpsons

The Simpson family are the main fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of married couple Homer and Marge and their three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town of Springfield, United States, and they were created by cartoonist Matt Groening, who conceived the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name. The family debuted on Fox on April 19, 1987, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" and were later spun off into their own series, which debuted on Fox in the U.S. on December 17, 1989, and started airing in Winter 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Huntington</span>

George Huntington was an American physician who contributed a classic clinical description of the disease that bears his name—Huntington's disease.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nora Fries</span> Fictional character

Nora Fries is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Entertainment. She was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for Batman: The Animated Series, in which she is depicted as the terminally ill wife of Dr. Victor Fries, who cryogenically freezes her and becomes the supervillain Mr. Freeze to find a cure for her condition. Nora is later adapted into the mainstream comic book canon and revived as a supervillain under the aliases Lazara and Mrs. Freeze.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Bass</span> Fictional character

Charles Bartholomew Bass is a fictional character in the novel and television series Gossip Girl. In the TV series, he is portrayed by British actor Ed Westwick. Although he is a secondary antagonist in the original book series, the TV series elevates him to an antiheroic main character, and the male lead of the show, where he is noted for his financial ambition, hedonism and personal style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeanie Boulet</span> Fictional character from the television series ER

Jeanie Boulet is a fictional character from the television series ER. The role was portrayed by Gloria Reuben who debuted as a recurring character in the first season episode, "Long Day's Journey", aired on January 19, 1995. Reuben was promoted to the role of series regular as of the second season episode, "Days Like This", aired on November 2, 1995 and made her last regular appearance in the sixth season episode, "The Peace of Wild Things", aired on November 11, 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temperance "Bones" Brennan</span> Character from the tv-series "Bones"

Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, Ph.D. is a fictional character portrayed by Emily Deschanel in the American Fox television series Bones. An anthropologist, forensic anthropologist, and kinesiologist, she is described in the series as a leading authority in the field of forensic anthropology. Brennan first appeared on television, along with other series characters, in the "Pilot" episode of Bones on September 13, 2005. She is the main protagonist of the series along with FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth.

Thirteen (<i>House</i>) Fictional character

Remy "Thirteen" Hadley, M.D., is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House, portrayed by Olivia Wilde. She is part of the new diagnostic team assembled by Dr. Gregory House after the disbanding of his previous team in the third-season finale. The character's nickname derives from the episode "The Right Stuff", when she is assigned the number during a competition for her position at the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.

<i>Mental</i> (TV series) American medical drama/mystery television series

Mental is a mystery medical drama television series produced by Fox's subsidiary Fox Telecolombia, which aired from May 26 to August 14, 2009 on FOX international channels for Latin America, Europe and Asia, starring Chris Vance and Annabella Sciorra. Mental was executive-produced by Deborah Joy LeVine – creator of the successful drama series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and the Lifetime series The Division, and executive producer of Any Day Now, Dawson's Creek and the CBS series Early Edition – and her brother and writing/producing partner, Dan LeVine. Following its U.S. debut, it aired in 35 additional countries. Fox Latin America aired the first episode as a "Worldwide Premiere" on June 2, 2009. Fox aired the pilot episode on May 26, 2009, for the American market. Fox TV Studios ordered 13 episodes. It began production on June 2, 2008, at the Fox Telecolombia production facilities in Bogotá.

Norma Bates (<i>Psycho</i>) Fictional character

Norma Bates is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch in his 1959 thriller novel Psycho. She is the deceased mother and victim of serial killer Norman Bates, who had recreated her in his mind as a murderous alternate personality.

<i>Childrens Hospital</i> American black comedy television series

Childrens Hospital is an American dark comedy television series and web series that parodies the medical drama genre, created by and starring actor/comedian Rob Corddry. The series began on the web on TheWB.com with ten episodes, roughly five minutes in length, all of which premiered on December 8, 2008. Adult Swim picked up the rights to the show in 2009 and began airing episodes in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Wexler</span> American geneticist

Nancy Wexler FRCP is an American geneticist and the Higgins Professor of Neuropsychology in the Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, best known for her involvement in the discovery of the location of the gene that causes Huntington's disease. She earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology but instead chose to work in the field of genetics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amelia Shepherd</span> Fictional character

Amelia Frances Shepherd, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character on the ABC American television Grey's Anatomy medical drama and the spin-off series Private Practice, portrayed by Caterina Scorsone. In her debut appearance in season 3, Amelia visited her former sister-in-law, Addison Montgomery, and became a partner at the Oceanside Wellness Group. In July 2010, it was reported that she was promoted to series regular for season 4, after appearing in the final five episodes of season 3. She remained in the series until the final episode.

Milton Wexler was a Los Angeles psychoanalyst who was responsible for the creation of the Hereditary Disease Foundation.

<i>Do You Really Want to Know?</i> 2012 Canadian film

Do You Really Want to Know? is a 2012 documentary film directed by John Zaritsky and produced by Kevin Eastwood. Using interviews and dramatic recreations, the film recounts the stories of three families who carry the gene for Huntington's disease, a neurodegenerative illness which is the result of a genetic abnormality, whose symptoms typically appear in mid-life. Members of each featured family have undergone predictive testing to learn whether or not they have inherited the gene that causes the disease, and they each describe the impact that testing has had upon their lives. Do You Really Want to Know? had its world premiere in Canada at the 2012 DOXA Documentary Film Festival and its broadcast premiere on November 13, 2012 on Knowledge Network.

Huntington's disease-like syndromes are a family of inherited neurodegenerative diseases that closely resemble Huntington's disease (HD) in that they typically produce a combination of chorea, cognitive decline or dementia and behavioural or psychiatric problems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caleb Knight</span> Fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty

Caleb "Cal" Knight is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty, played by actor Richard Winsor. He first appeared in the series twenty-eight episode "Brothers at Arms", broadcast on 18 January 2014. Winsor had previously auditioned for a role in Casualty's spin-off show Holby City. Producers were impressed and recalled him to read for the part of Cal. Winsor's casting was announced alongside George Rainsford who was hired to play Cal's brother Ethan Hardy. The pair had to pass a screen test together as producers were looking for a strong sibling chemistry. Cal's role in the show is a Specialist registrar in emergency medicine. He was originally introduced as a locum. The medic is played as a lothario and womaniser type character. He can manipulate those around him with charm to better his career. Writers gave Cal a backstory detailing the difficult relationship with his father and brother. Despite having the same parents Cal and Ethan had different upbringings, which sets up a sibling rivalry. Their relationship has been important in the development of both characters. Executive producer Oliver Kent has called the character consistent because when faced with trauma, Cal gets drunk, sleeps with women and makes a fool of himself.

References

  1. Nancy S Wexler and Michael D Rawlins (2005). "Prejudice in a portrayal of Huntington's disease". The Lancet . 366 (9491): 1069–1070. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67405-3. S2CID   54392395.
  2. Seagle, Steven T.; Teddy Kristiansen (2004). It's a Bird... New York: Vertigo. p. 123. ISBN   978-1-4012-0311-5. OCLC   55071368.
  3. Williams, Walter Jon (2011) [1986]. "Chapter Four". Hardwired. Walter Jon Williams. ISBN   9780983740841.
  4. "Reikäreuna-elokuvafestivaali - festarilehti 2013 by Tuomas Korolainen - Issuu". 21 August 2013.
  5. "Home". huntingtonsdance.org.
  6. "Connect with Mark Kelley: Fighting Huntington's disease". CBC, Canada. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
  7. "Gemini award nomination for the 'Connect with Mark Kelly' episode featuring Carroll". Gemini awards. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
  8. Also see BBC press release at .
  9. Grady, Denise (10 March 2020). "Haunted by a Gene". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 December 2020.