Moth Winn’s recovery was a ‘miracle’. CBD patients and their doctors tell a different story

Chloe Hadjimatheou

Narrative Editor

Moth Winn’s recovery was a ‘miracle’. CBD patients and their doctors tell a different story

A CBD patient and his doctor speak about the bleak reality of living with the disease – and how The Salt Path gave them hope that has turned to anger

When a neurologist told John Todd in 2023 that he didn’t have Parkinson’s, he was relieved. “Whatever it is, it can’t be worse than Parkinson’s,” he thought. But the doctor told him it was worse.

Todd, who is 67 and from Surrey, had corticobasal degeneration, or CBD, a rare neurological condition. It is in the same family as Parkinson’s, but more acute and rapid in its progress. The trajectory is steep and brutal. Life expectancy is tragically short – about six to eight years from the onset of symptoms – and patients eventually lose the ability to control their body and often suffer cognitive decline as well.