'The Gone' character affords glimpse of Huntington's Disease devastation

Mon, 06 Nov, 2023 - 16:35

Niamh Griffin

Viewers of RTÉ drama The Gone were given a glimpse on Sunday of the devastation caused by Huntington’s Disease when a character confessed he has this rare condition.

The production company spoke with the Huntington’s Disease Association of Ireland last year in preparation for these sensitive scenes aired on RTÉ and TVNZ in New Zealand.

Professor Niall Pender said initial symptoms experienced by the character, detective Theo Richter, are common.

“It is an incurable disease,” he said. “It’s what is called a progressive and neurodegenerative disease, it’s a disease of the brain caused by a genetic abnormality.”

Symptoms usually appear between 30 and 50 with over 700 living with it in Ireland at any one time and around 3,000 at risk.

“They experience motor difficulties, they have uncontrollable movements that can be twitching and writhing movements that progresses as the disease progresses,” he said.

“It can start initially with clumsiness or twitchiness or knocking things over.”

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Richter, played by Richard Flood, deals with his diagnosis in secret initially. This is common in Prof. Pender’s experience.

“The stigma is really still there,” he said, adding people get into difficulties as they may appear drunk.

Prof. Pender, Principal Clinical Neuropsychologist at Beaumont Hospital, added: “If you have a parent with the disease, each child has a 50/50 chance of getting the disease.”

Patricia Towey, Information and Services Coordinator for the advocacy group, said: "It is quite common for people who become symptomatic to avoid speaking with their employers or colleagues.

"This can lead to a premature exit from employment and exclusion to entitlements as we have seen with Detective Richter’s character."

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