Alan Jackson Reveals Disease That Affects His Nervous System
On the Today show this morning (9/28), Alan Jackson revealed in an exclusive interview with Jenna Bush Hager that he has been diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a degenerative nerve condition.
Jackson said of the condition he was diagnosed with ten years ago, “I have this neuropathy and neurological disease. It’s genetic that I inherited from my daddy… There’s no cure for it, but it’s been affecting me for years. And it’s getting more and more obvious. And I know I’m stumbling around on stage. And now I’m having a little trouble balancing, even in front of the microphone, and so I just feel very uncomfortable.”
According to Today‘s story, the condition affects the peripheral nervous system and causes balance problems by compromising smaller, weaker muscles in the body’s extremities.
However, the illness does not alter life expectancy. Alan shares, “It’s not going to kill me. It’s not deadly. But it’s related (to) muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease.”
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, there is no cure for CMT but it can be managed with supportive therapy.
Jackson says he doesn’t plan on stepping out of the spotlight just yet. He offered, “I never wanted to do the big retirement tour, as people do, then take a year off and then come back. I think that’s kinda cheesy. And I’m not saying I won’t be able to tour. I’ll try to do as much as I can.”
