Neurologists are not Immune to Diseases they Treat

Daniel Gibbs, MD, PhD, is a neurologist and a scientist that has spent his career face-to-face with Alzheimer’s disease; studying tissue samples in a lab and treating patients at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. In his retirement, he pieced together clues that hinted at a diagnosis of the disease for which he has detailed clinical expertise. He took a test which revealed he had the most common genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Gibb’s describes the moment he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in his book, A Tattoo on my Brain: A Neurologist’s Personal Battle against Alzheimer’s Disease, as being dropped “in the ring with the tiger.”

Serious chronic diseases arise in patients that have never heard of them and in patients that have dedicated careers to studying them. No matter how much a patient does or does not know about a diagnosis, a personalized treatment plan can preserve their quality of life. Patients win when they can access the medication, procedures and care recommended in the comprehensive treatment plan their physician tailors for them. For these reasons, Patients and Providers United prioritizes keeping patients and providers at the center of medical decision making.