Even at 66 years old, Alan Jackson is still drawing sold-out crowds and entertaining fans on stage. But as those who have seen him in concert recently know, his shows look a little different these days. Alan announced back in 2021 that he was suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a degenerative nerve condition that made it hard for the country music legend to stand and keep his balance. Jackson was diagnosed with the condition over a decade ago, but decided to go public with the diagnosis after the effects became more obvious so that fans didn’t assume he was drunk on stage: “I’ve been reluctant to talk about this publicly and to my fans, but it’s been a while and it’s starting to affect my performance on stage a little bit, where I don’t feel comfortable and I just wanted the fans and the public to know, if they’ve come to see me in the last few years or if they come to see me in the future if I play anymore, what’s going on. I don’t want ’em to think I’m drunk on stage because I’m having problem with mobility and balance.” Alan revealed that the disease (which he points out is ironically abbreviated “CMT”) is genetic, and that it affected not only his father but also his grandmother and his older sister. And he says he knows that he’s “stumbling around on stage” and having trouble balancing, but he also assured fans that the disease isn’t fatal. But it’s obviously caused Alan to have to slow down. After he revealed his diagnosis, Alan announced his Last Call: One More For The Road Tour, which is currently set to wrap up this weekend in Milwaukee. And fans who have been lucky enough to make it out to a show have noticed that Alan often leans up against a stand to help with his balance while performing. After his recent emotional performance at the ACM Awards, fans who weren’t aware of his health issues had questions about what was going on with Alan. And those who knew he was suffering from CMT were left wondering about the condition itself. As it turns out, the disease has been recognized for a long time, and was named after the doctors who discovered it back in 1886. The disease affects the peripheral nerves – those outside of your brain and spinal cord – and causes neuropathy, or degradation of those peripheral nerves that control movement. And it also leads to neurogenic muscle atrophy, which is the loss of muscles due to the disease (as opposed to physiological atrophy, which occurs from simply not using the muscle enough). Neurogenic atrophy isn’t recoverable and leads to further mobility problems. Signs of CMT often develop as early as five years old, such as walking on your toes, having a high arch or flat feet, or having numbness of the limbs. Along with numbness, CMT can also lead to severe pain and fatigue that contribute to mobility problems. And it can be difficult to diagnose because it shares symptoms with other, potentially treatable, conditions. Right now there are no approved treatments for CMT, with treatment largely focusing on managing the symptoms through physical or occupational therapy and even surgery to correct foot and hand deformities. There are over 160 different types of CMT, and it’s actually more common than you think: According to the CMT Association, the condition affects one in every 2,500 people, especially those who are at risk due to a family history with the disease. Luckily, as Alan said, CMT isn’t fatal, and those with the disease generally have the same life expectancy as those without CMT. But unfortunately, because it’s progressive and there’s no cure, those with CMT can expect to see a gradual decline in their ability to do everyday activities like standing and walking as the condition progresses. We don’t know how many more shows Alan plans on doing (though he recently hinted that he’s hoping to do a final show in Nashville next year), but it’s clear that he wants to go out on his own terms and keep performing as long as he thinks he can put on the show that his fans deserve. And when the time comes that he steps away, he’ll go down as one of the greatest to ever do it. The post What Is Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease? All About Alan Jackson’s Degenerative Nerve Condition first appeared on Whiskey Riff.