A neurological disorder with a funny-sounding name

By TARA PARKER-POPE, March 31, 2011:

People with the neurological disorder called Charcot-Marie-Tooth must contend not only with pain and muscle weakness but also the frustration of having a disease with a funny-sounding name that most people have never heard of.

In this week’s Patient Voices series, the Times Web producer Karen Barrow focuses on Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, one of the most common inherited neurological disorders.

People with Charcot-Marie-Tooth may slowly develop problems walking as the nerves in their feet and legs degenerate. As the disease progresses, they may also lose motor function in their hands. Charcot-Marie-Tooth runs in families, and many patients with the disease have parents, siblings and children who also have the condition.

The odd name of the disease comes from the last names of the three doctors who discovered it in 1886 — Jean-Martin Charcot, Pierre Marie and Howard Henry Tooth.

Although patients with this condition face many challenges and limited mobility, the disease is not considered to be fatal, and most people have a normal life span. Read more>>