Columns

Thinking about death isn’t pleasant, and neither is talking about it. But my wife, Jill, who is gene-positive for Huntington’s disease (HD), asked me to write about the topic. In particular, she wanted me to discuss the importance of making a living will. Being proactive in this manner…

The pharmaceutical company Teva is turning to social media to help people with Huntington’s disease (HD) to improve the management of chorea — a hallmark motor symptom that an estimated 90% of patients with the neurodegenerative disorder will develop. The company, fully Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, has established…

The month of August just happens to be when I, my wife, Jill, and her nephew, Jackson, were born. Jill loves birthdays — except hers. This year, I truly understood why. To celebrate, we visited Boston, where our daughter, Alexus, and her husband, René, live, as well…

Who knew a bucket of gum could make such a big difference in the life of a hospital patient? During the last few years of my father’s life, he had issues with diabetes, something he suffered with for years. The older he got, the more his body had a harder…

ProQR Therapeutics’ experimental therapy QRX-704 significantly reduced levels of the toxic huntingtin (HTT) protein clumps that fuel Huntington’s disease in a mouse model of the disease, a study showed. The therapy, an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) designed to promote the generation of a shorter, but working version of…

I love to write, but staring at a blank screen before my fingers start to press down on the keyboard can be daunting. That’s why I appreciate my wife, Jill, collaborating with me on these columns. She’s tremendously helpful in discussing possible topics with me and making countless suggestions…

Sleep has lately been a great concern for my wife, Jill, and me. After she recently had a meltdown about realizing she’s going to die young — sadly, Jill is gene-positive for Huntington’s disease (HD) — she realized her sleep patterns were atrocious, as she’d been getting only…

Because my wife, Jill, and I live less than half an hour away from Washington, D.C., commonly listed as one of the 10 most visited cities in the United States, we like to play tourist and visit the nation’s capital on weekends as often as we can. The last time…

In my previous column, I wrote about the need for new genetic testing options for people at risk for Huntington’s disease (HD), and teased a new passion project I’ve been working on. I’m excited to share a bit more about my endeavor in hopes of helping the HD…

Recently, a reader of this column posted a comment that touched me. It also reminded me how precarious the caregiving journey can be and how important it is to learn as much as possible about Huntington’s disease (HD). Since my wife, Jill, was diagnosed as gene-positive for HD in…