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The NBC medical drama series Chicago Med, part of the acclaimed Chicago franchise, follows the lives of the doctors and nurses working in the emergency department at the Gaffney Chicago Medical Center.
Providing care for severely sick people presents both personal and professional challenges, and the series doesn't shy away from exploring them. Since its debut in 2015, Chicago Med has captivated its audience and has been renewed for an eleventh season.
Among the key characters are nurse April Sexton and physician Will Halstead. But, in one of the most poignant storylines of the series, Dr. Caitlin Lenox learns she has the gene for Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS), a rare and deadly hereditary neurological disease.
She is forced to confront an uncertain future after being shaken to her very core by the revelation. Caitlin is caught between continuing her hectic medical career and taking a break to concentrate on her health as symptoms like memory lapses, personality changes, and loss of balance begin to appear.
More about the GSS disease in Chicago Med
In Chicago Med, GSS stands for Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) syndrome, a rare and deadly genetic brain illness due to a PRNP gene mutation. This gene mutation produces aberrant prion proteins in the brain, which eventually degrade brain tissue. GSS is classed as a prion illness, much like Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). However, it advances more slowly.
In its early stages, the illness mostly impacts mobility and coordination. Patients frequently have trouble walking, slurred speech, muscular stiffness, and balance problems.
Memory loss, decline in cognitive abilities, personality changes, and other serious neurological symptoms start showing as the disease progresses. Most people live for five to six years after the symptoms start showing, and the condition is unfortunately progressive and incurable.
GSS becomes a significant plot point in Season 10 of Chicago Med, particularly when recurring character Dr. Caitlin Lenox discovers she possesses the GSS gene. This revelation is emotionally charged because it affects not only her personal life but also her professional decisions and interactions with her coworkers.
Despite the fact that GSS is quite uncommon—affecting only a small percentage of families globally—the medical specifics depicted in the episode are authentic.
It also emphasizes how crucial genetic testing and counseling are for hereditary illnesses. As of right now, there is no proven way to slow or reverse the advancement of GSS. Symptom relief and patient and family support are usually the main goals of management.
Chicago Med provides its viewers with a better knowledge of this little-known but deadly ailment by using the plot to examine certain difficult ethical points in the medical field, emphasizing the emotional fortitude one needs to have to deal with the reality of living with a diagnosis that has no cure.
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