Good evening everyone. A disease that impacts just one in one million people has changed the life of the Middle Tennessee family forever. A doctor at Vanderbilt diagnosed a Lebanon father with what's called the human form of mad cow disease.
News Channel 5's Emily Luxon explains why it's a condition that is often misunderstood. One year ago, 32-year-old Tony Gibson was a happy and healthy new father. Then his wife says he started acting strangely and became very forgetful. I had to start labeling the rooms in our home. He would get lost going to the grocery store and someone would call me and say, we have your husband.
After his odd behavior continued, Danielle took Tony to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After multiple tests, a neurologist made a shocking discovery. But he said the worst case scenario being CJD and I said, what is that?
And he said, you know, it's like the human form of mad cow disease. CJD, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, is a rare brain disorder. Infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt, Dr. William Schaffner, did not work on Tony's case, but says CJD typically impacts about 300 people a year in the U.S.
Patients can become anxious, depressed, confused, and the disease progresses quickly. This is a very tragic disease because there is no treatment, and the patients sometimes quite rapidly sink into this withdrawal, semi-comatose state. There are different forms of CJD that can develop randomly, genetically, or after being exposed to infected human tissue during a medical procedure.
Danielle doesn't know how Tony got CJD, but says he now requires 24-hour care at a nursing home. This is the most devastating thing I've seen ALS. I've seen a lot of terrible things, but this has got to be the worst.
Danielle hopes Tony's struggles can help educate others about the unusual disease and its symptoms, and she will be by his side. as he keeps fighting. It's unreal what I've seen this man go through.
Danielle turned to the CJD Foundation to learn more about her husband's disease. The group also raises money for research. If you'd like more information, just look for this story on newschannel5.com.
Reporting in the newsroom, Emily Lux in News Channel 5.