Handgrip and Respiratory Dysfunction in HD Patients.

Hereditary neurodegenerative diagnosis of Huntington's disease (HD) is associated with a progressive deterioration of the respiratory system function . This fact contributes strongly to the increased risk of aspiration pneumonia as a primary cause of death in people with HD. But regularly objective monitoring of the airway system condition is in common clinical practice almost impossible for high time requirements and the need for specialized expensive devices . This drives the need for a simpler and more cost-effective screening tool. In recent years published studies, working with all ages and genders, show correlation between hand grip strength (HGS) and respiratory parameters. As a second simple screening tool, we chose a short questionnaire called the Index of pulmonary dysfunction.