admin Scotland and Rangers legend Ally McCoist has developed into one of the nation’s most beloved broadcasters and recently revealed he suffers from an incurable medical condition
Ally McCoist has revealed he suffers from a incurable disease called Dupuytren’s contracture, which is also known as ‘Viking’s disease’.
The Rangers legend opened up on the condition, and detailed how two operations had been unable to spare him from the effects. Both of McCoist ‘s parents suffered from the hereditary disease which sees one or more fingers to curl towards the palm or pull sideways.
Dupuytren’s causes an abnormal thickening of skin on the palm of your hand, at the base of your fingers and slowly gets worse over months or years. The beloved broadcaster is one of an estimated two million people in Britain that have some degree of the condition.
Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist detailed how he had lived with the issue and treatment for it.
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McCoist explained: “I have got Dupuytren’s. It’s a hereditary thing where your fingers close in.
“I have had them done twice. I went to see the doctor and he said to me ‘Did your grandfather have it?’. I said ‘I don’t know’ because I never met any of my grandfathers, sadly they passed before I was born.
“I said to him ‘But my dad had it’. He lifted his head up and said ‘You’re unlucky because it normally skips a generation’. I said ‘That’s good news because I have got five boys’.
“My wee mum had it as well. My mum had it, my dad had it, it’s a hereditary thing.
“The bizarre thing with Dupuytren’s is when I went to see the doctor he said ‘I will operate on it but it will come back in roughly nine years’. And I swear to God nine years later it came back.
He added: “I have seen myself sending a text message which takes me five minutes to text with one finger when I should just dial the number.”
The NHS suggests Dupuytren’s contracture ‘mainly affects the ring and little fingers’ and that it is common for both hands to suffer from the condition at the same time. The disease is not usually painful but it can impact how an individual is able to utilise their hand.
“It starts with lumps, dimples or ridges on your palm,” it states on the NHS. “Eventually, one or more of your fingers may get stuck in a bent position.”
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