§ 2.50 p.m.
Baroness VICKERSMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will state what action is being taken in regard to research for a cure for Huntington's Chorea, and how many persons suffering from this complaint are having to reside in psychiatric hospitals.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, the Medical Research Council and the university medical schools are currently promoting a wide range of basic neurological work which could advance the knowledge of the nature of Huntington's Chorea. The Department of Health and Social Security is also supporting from its own funds a research project to establish the true incidence of Huntington's Chorea and the feasibility of setting up suitable registers for preventive purposes. I regret that the number of patients suffering from Huntington's Chorea resident in psychiatric hospitals is not known.
Baroness VICKERSMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that sympathetic reply, may I say that about 6,000 310 people are suffering from this disease, which is hereditary? Naturally it causes tremendous anxiety to their families. Can the noble Lord promote research into the number of psychiatric hospitals which now have these residents, because I know of at least one such patient who has to be in a locked ward, not because she is violent but merely because she might be attacked by the other patients? I should like some action taken in that regard.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I did not give a figure because at this stage we are not in a position to give an accurate figure. I can say, however, from the inquiries we have made that we are of the opinion that the number of people believed to be suffering from Huntington's Chorea is in the region of 3,000. However, having regard to what the noble Baroness has said, I will see whether there is a discrepancy between this figure and the one she has given.
Lord HAWKEMy Lords, can the noble Lord give us some idea what this disease is and whether any hereditary Peers are suffering from this hereditary disease?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, with regard to the second part of the noble Lord's question, perhaps the House will excuse me if I do not make any comment. I understand that there are two Chorea diseases. There is Chorea Minor and Chorea Major. The first is, I believe, known as Sydenham's Disease, which we associate with St. Vitus' Dance and which, in the main, stems from rheumatic fever. Chorea Major is a much more serious form. I am told that it is inherited and that, generally speaking, it manifests itself in middle age. I understand that there is no cure at present, and it tends to take on a very violent form. Hence the need to put people into psychiatric units.
§ Lord AUCKLANDMy Lords, in view of the fact that this is a particularly distressing disease, can the noble Lord say whether units such as Stoke Mandeville could not cope with at least some of these cases in the hope of giving some therapeutic treatment? Also, is the noble Lord aware that, in view of the fact that so many mental hospitals arc understaffed, they face tremendous difficulties in coping with the worst aspects of this distressing illness?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, wherever the patient may be put, there will be no alteration in the distressing effects of the disease. I have no evidence that we are unable to accommodate those patients who need it in medical wards. The real difficulty is that at the moment we know so little about the cause of the disease, and until we know a great deal more it will be very difficult to deal with it. A good deal of research is going on at the moment. The Department itself is supporting research by Dr. Adrian Caro at Dereham Hospital in East Anglia. There is a good deal of neurological research into this particular field at Edinburgh University department of social medicine and the major part of the research programme carried on by the Medical Research Council's Neuron-chemical Pharmacology Unit is looking into the biochemical changes underlying the disease. A good deal is going on, therefore, but what we really need is a good breakthrough.
§ Lord PLATTMy Lords, would the Minister agree that perhaps the most hopeful line in most hereditary diseases is a preventive one? Is he aware that he hit the nail on the head when he said that Huntington's Chorea usually occurs in middle life, so, whereas many hereditary diseases show themselves early in life and are unlikely to reproduce, Huntington's Chorea unfortunately occurs at a time when a person may already have had three or four children?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, we are aware of that and are hoping to set up registers of known sufferers so that we can have a reasonably comprehensive list in order to deal with this kind of situation. In other words, we are trying to set up a preventive register.