The Happy Pod: Hope for people with Huntington's disease

快乐舱:亨廷顿病患者的新希望

Global News Podcast

2025-09-27

27 分钟
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For the first time ever, a successful treatment has been found for the devastating brain disease, Huntington's. The inherited condition, which resembles a combination of dementia, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease, affects hundreds of thousands of people in the US and Europe. The scientists who developed the new gene therapy, and people who have the disease, say its a huge breakthrough that could give people a better quality of life for decades. Also: we meet the teacher who's launched a Happiness Project to help her pupils learn about what really matters, and is encouraging others to do the same. We find out about the small actions that have transformed how people feel about a living in a huge public housing complex in Mumbai, bringing a true sense of community. It's Fat Bear Week in Alaska - a time to celebrate weight gain as the beautiful inhabitants of Katmai National Park prepare to hibernate. Plus a new way to bring more poetry into your life; the dogs getting to swim in German public pools; and the man cycling hundreds of miles dressed as a paramedic gorilla. Our weekly collection of inspiring, uplifting and happy news from around the world. Presenter: Oliver Conway. Music composed by Iona Hampson
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  • This is the Happy Pod from the BBC World Service.

  • Hello, I'm Oliver Conway, and in this edition...

  • I actually feel quite emotional

  • because people with Huntington's disease are desperate for some kind of treatment that works.

  • Scientists and patients talk of their joy at the discovery of the first-ever treatment for the devastating inherited disease,

  • Huntington's.

  • Also, we speak to a teacher trying to change her pupils' lives with a happiness project.

  • Math is very important, writing and reading is very important,

  • but what I want for my students when they grow up is I want them to be happy.

  • The simple steps bringing a sense of community to a vast housing complex in Mumbai.

  • All my life I never had friends, but talking to these women is broadened my perspective.

  • and really made a huge change in how I look at my life.

  • And... A new way to add poetry to your life.

  • We start with a medical breakthrough,

  • the first successful treatment for the devastating brain condition Huntingdon's.

  • This is an inherited disease caused by an altered gene being passed from a parent to a child.

  • It results in damage to certain parts of the brain and resembles a combination of dementia,

  • Parkinson's and motor neurone disease.

  • As you may have heard in our Global News podcast,

  • scientists have found a way to slow its progression by 75%.