Veteran hikes the Appalachian Trail to raise awareness of Huntington’s disease

  • 📰 TODAYshow
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 47 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 22%
  • Publisher: 55%

Health Health Headlines News

Health Health Latest News,Health Health Headlines

Nick Gough's mother has the rare, progressive neurological condition and he does, too. He hopes to raise more money and awareness for Huntington's.

Growing up, Nick Gough’s mother, Margie Gough, never revealed to her family that she had Huntington’s disease. Gough and his siblings thought that the personality changes she experienced were just who she was. When she displayed involuntary movements, had seizures or seemed drunk, they wondered if she had. But as her symptoms worsened, the now adult children learned why Margie Gough behaved like she did: She has Huntington’s disease.

“People would think she was drunk,” Gough said. “Like she was getting pulled over for impaired driving but she’s sober.” At the time, Gough was in the military and he worried about undergoing a genetic test to see if he had it. He didn’t know if it would impact his career or even his ability to obtain health insurance. Children with parents who have Huntington’s have a “50/50 chance” of also having the gene that causes it, according to the. Gough went for anonymous testing and discovered he had the gene.

Nick Gough has been surprised how unrelenting the terrain has been since he started the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. Still, he thinks he'll finish the entire hike in about 6 months.As he was reeling from the results of his genetic test, Margie Gough’s condition deteriorated. She can't leave the house often and experiences outburst and irritability issues. Caretakers help her at home.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

THANK YOU & MissMeghanMack! 💙 LetsTalkAboutHD HuntingtonsDisease

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 389. in HEALTH

Health Health Latest News, Health Health Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Parkinson's Association to hold annual walk this Saturday at Liberty StationThe nonprofit is raising money to support local people living with the disease
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »

Donna Foundation debuts new Mother’s Day 5K this MayThe Donna Foundation, known for its annual marathon to raise awareness and funds in the fight against breast cancer, is adding another running event to its repertoire.
Source: wjxt4 - 🏆 246. / 63 Read more »