Mind your health..
MY BROKEN BRAIN
RTE One, 9.35pm
MORE than 700,000 people in Ireland suffer from some form of neurological condition and that figure is set to rise as the population ages.
This documentary follows patients experiencing four such conditions – epilepsy, motor neurone disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s – as they undergo testing, surgery and treatment.
One of the patients is former actor and theatre producer Ronan Smith, who is living with Familial Alzheimer’s – the genetic form of the disease.
He had first-hand experience of the condition from his father, a significant force in the Irish theatre scene.
Almost a decade ago, Ronan began to notice some similarities in his own behaviour, comparable to that of his father, 30 years previously.
He attends St James’s Hospital under Prof Brian Lawlor for regular check-ups and memory testing.
His two children – Hannah and Loughlin – consider the realisation this condition may also have been handed down to them.
They have a 50/50 chance of developing this disease, and genetic testing is an option for them down the line.
Dubliner Brian Byrne has very severe intractable epilepsy, which has affected him since he was a young child.
He has multiple seizures daily, and recently they have become more violent and life threatening.
After being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2015, Billy Reilly is now in a wheelchair, and has little use of his legs, but can still use his arms and hands.
The show follows Billy and his family as he takes part in a clinical trial under Prof Orla Hardiman – and discover whether or not the results have been successful.