A woman who lives in fear of developing Huntington’s disease , a fatal neurodegenerative disorder, has told The i Paper of the “surreal” moment she found out the condition had been successfully treated for the first time.

The relentless condition causes nerve cells in the brain to decay over time with symptoms similar to a combination of dementia, Parkinson’s and motor neurone disease.

Symptoms usually begin in adults aged between 30 and 50, but can start at any age. It is normally fatal within two decades.

Parents with the disease have a 50 per cent chance of passing it on to their children.

Roisin Sterne, 29, from Chelmsford, Essex, told The i Paper her grandmother, Steph, died from Huntington’s disease and her mother, Sandy, has been diagnosed with it.

‘Anxiety that follows

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