Marco Schreyl: He suffered greatly from his mother’s illness

The moderator Marco Schreyl (50) attaches great importance to his privacy. In his book “Everything’s OK? Most of it!” (Kiepenheuer & Witsch), however, he makes a rare exception and discusses in detail the illness of his mother, who died in 2021. In his work from last year, Schreyl reveals that she suffered from the rare disease Huntington’s chorea. This is an incurable hereditary disease of the brain that causes uncoordinated movements and massive psychological changes. Later, Huntington progresses into dementia and ultimately leads to death.

In an interview with the “Apotheken Rundschau”, the moderator now describes that his mother asked not to disclose her condition, which was not easy for him. “I was often desperate back then. When my mother called me at night and told me nasty, loud things, I often thought: ‘If things don’t get better, then that’s terrible.'” Doing your job the next day with these thoughts , was often not easy for him. The fact that he breaks the silence in his book was preceded by many sleepless nights and conversations with friends. “But I firmly believe that – if there is something overarching – my parents will sit up there and say: ‘It’s good that you told me about it, it’s good that you’re dealing with it.'”

Marco Schreyl carries 50 percent of the modified gene

Particularly frightening: As the son of someone with Huntington’s disease, Marco Schreyl also has a 50 percent risk of carrying the modified gene that leads to the disease. However, he has not yet had himself tested for the mutation, as he says: “There is this saying: ‘Live every day as if it were your last.'” The relevance of research for Huntington’s disease is low, as there are only 5 occurs up to 15 times in 100,000 people. Nevertheless, in his opinion, everyone affected is important: “And there are many more who are affected by the disease: behind every sufferer there is a whole circle of family and friends who suffer with them.”