Isabelle Tate from Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease; Understanding the Rare Neurological Disorder She Battled

Isabelle Tate died at the age of 23 after battling a neurological condition known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, her talent agency revealed. Tate recently starred in an episode of 9-1-1: Nashville. “We

are deeply saddened and completely heartbroken to share that Isabelle Tate passed away,” the McCray Agency wrote in an Instagram post. Her family has also confirmed the actor’s death occurred from a rare form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease - an inherited neurological disorder that damages peripheral nerves in the arms and legs, leading to progressive muscle weakness, muscle wasting, and loss of sensation. Isabelle’s agent said that the condition impacted her legs so much that she had become wheelchair bound in her last days.

What is Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease?

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, or CMT, affects nerves that control muscle movements. There are six main types of CMT - all of which happen because of a genetic mutation you inherited from one or both parents. According to doctors, CMT is the most common form of inherited peripheral neuropathy or nerve disease. Your peripheral nervous system would include any nerves that are not part of your spinal cord or brain. Its name comes from Greek and means “around” or “outside the center.” Experts say even though it is an uncommon condition, CMT is possible in people of all races and ethnicities and affects you the same regardless of your gender. Research estimates put the number of people affected worldwide between 700,000 and 2 million.

How does CMT affect your body?

CMT causes problems with how signals travel through nerves in your body. To understand why, it helps to know a little more about neurons, which are a key type of cell that make up your nerves. It affects the neurons, which send relay signals in two ways, and some conditions cause one of these more than the other.

Myelin loss

CMT affects the myelin coating on your axons, causing them to lose myelin entirely or to have too little of it in the first place. Either way, this affects the speed of the signals traveling through your neurons, slowing them down.

Axon problems

When CMT causes the axons on your neurons to shrink or deteriorate, this weakens the signals sent or relayed through that neuron.

What causes CMT?

Doctors say CMT is usually caused by mutations in one gene or several genes in the DNA. So far, researchers have identified several dozen different gene mutations that can cause the different forms of CMT. You can have a DNA mutation in one of two ways:

• The inherited mutations that are passed to you from one or both parents
• Spontaneous mutations occur while you are still an embryo developing in the uterus.

Signs and symptoms of CMT

CMT symptoms usually start in your early teenage years, but can also start earlier during childhood or later during middle age. Issues usually appear and develop slowly, getting progressively worse over time. A few of these include:

• Muscle weakness
• Paralysis
• Loss of muscle mass
• Decreased or no reflexes
• Hammertoes
• Foot drop
• Trips and falls because of walking disorders
• Repeated sprain in the ankles
• Breathing issues
• Numbness
• Inability to feel heat or pain sensations in your lower legs, feet, and hands
• Creeping sensations in your legs
• Chronic pain
• Loss or decrease in other senses, especially vision and hearing