Tennessee father-of-four, 33, is given one year to live after being diagnosed with rare form of mad cow disease

  • Last year, Tony Gibson, 33, from Lebanon, Tennessee, noticed a decline in his cognitive skills 
  • Doctors diagnosed him with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, particularly a variant of associated with 'mad cow disease'  
  • It is caused by infectious proteins that lead to irreversible brain damage 
  • Gibson was given one year to live and is in a nursing home where he requires round-the-clock care

In December 2017, when Tony Gibson started forgetting how to get around his home, his wife Danielle knew something wasn't right.

She started labeling the rooms in their house and would often have to pick him up when he got lost running errands.

The couple traveled from their Lebanon, Tennessee, home to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville in hopes of learning answers.  

After a month of tests, neurologists discovered the father-of-four, 33, had developed a degenerative brain disease caused by the same infectious proteins that trigger the infamous 'mad cow disease' in animals.   

Tony Gibson, 33, from Lebanon, Tennessee, began having a decline in cognitive skills last year. Pictured: Tony with his wife Danielle 

Tony Gibson, 33, from Lebanon, Tennessee, began having a decline in cognitive skills last year. Pictured: Tony with his wife Danielle 

The couple visited Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville in the hope of learning answers. Pictured: Tony with his daughters
The couple visited Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville in hopes of learning answers. Pictured: Tony with his daughters

The couple visited Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville in hopes of learning answers. After a month of tests, Tony (left and right with his daughters) was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

'He would say: "I'm going to the bathroom" and I would say: "That's not the bathroom",' Danielle told DailyMail.com.

'So I started labeling every room in the house. And that lasted about a month until he couldn't read anymore.'

Tony's condition started to deteriorate even more. He would go to the neighbor's home to take care of the 'his dog' - even though he and Danielle don't have a dog.

He would lie in bed with Danielle and tell her he wanted to have kids with her - even though they were raising four children together. 

It got so bad that he would get lost while running errands, so Danielle wouldn't let him drive anymore. 

The couple traveled to Vanderbilt four months after the symptoms started, and Danielle was convinced he was suffering from dementia.

After a month of tests, neurologists delivered a much different diagnosis: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

CJD is a rare, degenerative brain disorder that is caused by coming into contact with tissue that has been infected, such as eating contaminated meat.

Danielle says she doesn't know how her husband contracted CJD and doctors say he is one of the youngest patients they've ever seen.

It is caused due to abnormal versions of a protein known as prion. Prions are normally harmless but, when misshapen, they become infectious and create lesions, according to the Mayo Clinic.

CJD cannot be transmitted in the air or through sexual contact. 

CJD is a rare, degenerative brain disorder that is caused by coming into contact with tissue that has been infected, such as eating contaminated meat. Pictured: Tony and his wife Danielle

CJD is a rare, degenerative brain disorder that is caused by coming into contact with tissue that has been infected, such as eating contaminated meat. Pictured: Tony and his wife Danielle

Danielle says she doesn't know how her husband contracted CJD and doctors say he is one of the youngest patients they've ever seen. Pictured: Tony, Danielle and one of their daughters

Danielle says she doesn't know how her husband contracted CJD and doctors say he is one of the youngest patients they've ever seen. Pictured: Tony, Danielle and one of their daughters

WHAT IS CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE?

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, degenerative brain disorder.

It is caused by abnormal proteins known as prions.

Prions are normally harmless but, when misshapen, they become infectious and create lesions, 

Sufferers contract CJD by coming into contact with tissue that has been infected, such as eating contaminated meat. 

About one in a million people worldwide become infected, with just 350 annual cases occurring in the US. 

Symptoms, which worsen rapidly over time, include:

  • Loss of intellect and memory 
  • Personality changes
  • Loss of balance and coordination
  • Slurred speech
  • Vision problems and blindness
  • Abnormal jerky movements
  • Loss of mobility

Most sufferers die within a year of symptom onset, usually due to an infection caused by immobility.   

There is no cure.

Treatment focuses of relieving symptoms and making sufferers comfortable via painkillers and antidepressants.

Source: CDC

Advertisement

Symptoms include depression, anxiety, memory loss, personality changes, impaired thinking, difficulty swallowing and difficulty speaking.

The mental deterioration is rapid, usually occurring within a few months. Many sufferers lapse into coma.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CJD risk rapidly increases after age 50. 

Usually symptoms begin to appear around age 60 and approximately 70 percent of sufferers die within a year.

There is no treatment or cure for CJD. Treatment plans currently involve lessening the severity of symptoms and making those affected comfortable.  

CJD occurs in three forms. One is sporadic with no known causes, which accounts for 85 percent of cases, according to the National Institutes of Health.

This is the type that doctors believe Tony developed. 

Another form is hereditary. Those with a family history of the disease and have a genetic mutation account for 10 to 15 percent of US cases.

The rarest form is acquired CJD, which is when the brain or nervous system tissue becomes infected through exposure - only causing one percent of cases.

A type of CJD called variant CJD (vCJD) can occur from eating infected beef. First described in 1996 in the UK, this beef is already infected with a disease that is similar called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or 'mad cow disease'.

About one in a million people around the world become infected, with just 350 cases occurring annually in the US.

The mental deterioration is rapid, usually occurring within a few months. Many sufferers lapse into coma. Pictured: Tony with Danielle
Danielle said that when Tony (pictured) was diagnosed, doctors told her that he had one year to live

The mental deterioration is rapid, usually occurring within a few months. Many sufferers lapse into coma. Danielle said that when Tony (left, with Danielle, and right) was diagnosed, doctors told her that he had one year to live

The father-of-four is still alive, but he requires round-the-clock care, so he's been placed in a nursing home in Hendersonville. Pictured: Tony with Danielle and their four daughters

The father-of-four is still alive, but he requires round-the-clock care, so he's been placed in a nursing home in Hendersonville. Pictured: Tony with Danielle and their four daughters

Danielle said that when Tony was diagnosed, doctors told her that he had one year to live in the best case scenario.

The father-of-four is still alive, but he requires round-the-clock care, so he's been placed in a nursing home in Hendersonville.

She said she hopes to educate others about the symptoms of the devastating illness by sharing her husband's journey. 

'I want to doctors to be more aware that this is a thing and to educate people' she said. 

'Google this and know what to look for. We need funding for research.' 

The family has created a GoFundMe page to cover the cost of Tony's medical bills and provide financial relief for his wife and children.

So, far $25 has been raised out of a $7,000 goal. 

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.