Columns

My wife, Jill, and I recently took a road trip. One of the reasons we’d wanted to move to the East Coast of the United States from the Midwest was to live closer to family. So, we were happy to drive to see Jill’s relatives, including her two brothers,…

A Phase 1/2 trial evaluating Wave Life Science’s investigational therapy WVE-003 for Huntington’s disease has started dosing patients, the company has announced. The SELECT-HD trial (NCT05032196), underway in clinical sites in Australia, Germany, Poland, and the U.K., is currently looking to enroll 36 Huntington’s patients, ages…

I learned a new recipe for the overwhelming chaos known as moving. Take a dash of living out of several suitcases. Now, add that to living in someone else’s home. Top it off with an old dog and slippery wooden floors with stairs. Serve it with a glass of feeling…

Where do you go to find support and information about Huntington’s disease (HD) when you need it most? This question will certainly receive a plethora of answers. Having been part of the Huntington’s community for 25 years, I’ve utilized many different options based on my needs. In today’s world of…

Several days ago, my wife, Jill, and I got a call from our daughter, Alexus. She wanted us to know she was getting two new cats. Alexus and her boyfriend just moved into a new home with the two cats she already owns. Because my wife and daughter…

The interaction between FAN1 and MLH1 — two DNA repair proteins known to be genetic modifiers of Huntington’s disease — protects against further expansion of disease-causing CAG repeats, according to a study using human and mouse models of the disease. Specifically, this interaction prevents MLH1’s recruitment to a DNA…

Earlier this year, I wrote that I was dealing with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but didn’t realize it until my wife, Jill, pointed it out to me. Today, with her permission, I’m turning the spotlight on her. My wife has always admitted that she suffers from ADHD,…

In late July, before my nephew, Dylan, moved to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, in the Caucasus region, for several months, I played several songs for him while we were in his car. One of them was a live version of “Fragile” by Sting. I know Dylan’s taste…

Getting a new treatment to people with rare conditions like Huntington’s disease is difficult. It takes lots of intelligence about a specific topic and immense time and energy. It requires funding to fuel the time and energy of those intelligent people. It depends upon a correct hypothesis that is executed…

Huntington’s is a strange and deadly disease. It’s not like cancer. Only 5-10% of cancer is hereditary, and what’s passed down is the abnormal gene that can lead to cancer, not the cancer itself. It’s not like heart disease. Certain risk factors, such as high cholesterol, can be…