I WILL BE "RUNNING TO CURE HD" AGAIN!!! I WILL BE RUNNING THE CARLSBAD HALF MARATHON ON JAN. 25,2009 TO RAISE MONEY AND AWARENESS FOR HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE!!!

 

HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE OR HD IS A FATAL, PROGRESSIVE, DENGENERATIVE DISEASE THAT BASICALLY RESULTS IN THE DETERIATION OF THE BRAIN. HD IS HEREDITARY SO IT IS PASSED FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT IN FAMILIES THAT CARRY THE GENE/DISEASE. EACH CHILD WITH A PARENT THAT CARRIES THE HD GENE HAS A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF INHERITING HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE. HD DESTROYS NEURONS IN THE AREAS OF THE BRAIN THAT CONTROL MOVEMENT, INTELLECT, AND EMOTION. A MAJOR CHARACTERISTIC OF HD IS UNCONTROLLED BODY MOVEMENTS.  AS HD PROGRESSES A PERSON BECOMES COMPLETELY DISABLED; NOT BEING ABLE TO WALK, TALK, SPEAK, THINK, DRINK, EAT, WRITE, READ, RUN, DRIVE, RIDE A BIKE, TYPE, COOK, CLEAN, PAINT...WELL I THINK YOU GET THE POINT. A PERSON WITH HD WILL BECOME COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON OTHERS. SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS TYPICALLY START AT MID-LIFE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 30-40 BUT THEY CAN START AS EARLY AS CHILDHOOD AND LATER ON IN LIFE. IT IS VERY HARD TO UNDERSTAND THIS DISEASE IF YOU ARE NOT DIRECTLY AFFECTED AS IT IS VERY COMPLICATED. HD IS A FATAL DISEASE WITH AN AVERAGE LIFE SPAN OF 10-20 YEARS AFTER SYPTOMS BEGIN.  AT THIS TIME THERE IS NO EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OR CURE FOR HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE.

 30,000 PEOPLE CURRENTLY LIVE WITH HD.

250,000 PEOPLE ARE "AT-RISK" TO DEVELOP THIS DISEASE.

AS THE POPULATION GROWS MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE BECOMING "AT-RISK" FOR THIS DEVISTATING DISEASE. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO RAISE AWARENESS AND MONEY FOR RESEARCH SO WE CAN AT LEAST FIND A TREATMENT OR EVEN BETTER A CURE!!!!

PLEASE SPONSOR ME FOR THE MARATHON...

YOUR DONATIONS MEAN VERY MUCH TO ANYONE AFFECTED BY HD!

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!