First in a series. When people ask my wife, Jill, about her Huntington’s disease, I never expect her reply to reach for a playground metaphor. But she has a way of drawing from everyday life, turning even the hardest subjects into something instantly relatable. “It’s just like a…
Life with Huntington’s disease often feels unpredictable and overwhelming. There are times when the emotional and physical weight feels like too much to carry. In those moments, humor has often been my saving grace — a source of comfort, distraction, connection, and identity. Yet like many tools we turn…
A postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan won a three-year grant to support her work investigating the cellular mechanisms underlying Huntington’s disease. The Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA) awarded its Berman-Topper Family HD Career Development Fellowship to Elizabeth Tidwell, PhD, whose project, “Determining the structure…
The other week, I hit what I like to call the trifecta of family wins. My wife and daughter actually laughed at one of my puns (a rare feat); I managed to find something my wife, Jill, couldn’t see (she usually finds the things I lose); and, perhaps most…
Huntington’s disease has transformed nearly every part of my life: my body, my emotions, my routines. But one of the most profound changes has been in how I show up as a friend, and how friendship shows up for me. Huntington’s has a way of filtering out relationships. It…
Neurodegeneration of the pathways that help relay information from the cerebellum — a brain area involved in motor and cognitive functions — is associated with worsening motor and cognitive symptoms in people with Huntington’s disease, a study reported. Tracking changes in these pathways, or tracts, may help researchers follow…
I never expected a lesson in quantum mechanics to help me make sense of my wife’s Huntington’s disease diagnosis. But over the past few years, as I’ve watched Jill navigate the unpredictable nature of this illness, the parallels between her journey and the famous Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment have…
Dating is already hard enough in this world of ghosting, swiping, and shallow connections. Add a terminal illness like Huntington’s disease into the mix and it becomes a minefield of awkward conversations, emotions, and misunderstandings. In the decade that I’ve been living with Huntington’s disease, I’ve been ghosted,…
Both DNA repair and non-repair genes influence how and when Huntington’s disease develops, according to a study based on genetic data from more than 16,000 people with the disorder that also provides new potential targets for treatment. In addition, these findings reveal complex mechanisms behind CAG repeat expansions, the…
The night my wife, Jill, threatened to divorce me over a soccer game, I knew she wasn’t being serious. As dramatic as her threat was, we both knew exactly what she was doing. Jill was reminding me about the importance of self-care. When she was diagnosed with Huntington’s…
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