What Conditions Chorea May Indicate

Wilson's Disease

Someone with Wilson's disease may experience chorea as one symptom of their condition. Wilson's disease is a rare disorder where an individual's body becomes overloaded with copper. In a healthy individual, an organ called the liver can remove high levels of copper from the blood and excrete it through the urine. A Wilson's disease patient has a liver that is unable to filter out excess copper from the bloodstream. As a result of this malfunction, copper accumulates in the liver, eyes, and brain. The symptoms of Wilson's disease are based on the organ in which copper accumulates. Liver-related symptoms of Wilson's disease include weight loss, vomiting, nausea, appetite loss, itching, jaundice, edema, and muscle cramps. Chorea occurs in some patients as the result of copper toxicity in the brain tissues. Drooling, abnormal walking, clumsiness with the hands, and speech impairment are the main chorea-related symptoms that occur in individuals who have Wilson's disease. Additional symptoms related to copper accumulation in the brain and other tissues include migraines, insomnia, mood changes, depression, personality changes, vision impairment, and memory problems.

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