Jimmy Carter's youngest son quietly living with Parkinson's Disease

Jeff Carter, former President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter's youngest son, has been quietly battling Parkinson's Disease.

Jeff's son, Josh Carter, revealed his dad's diagnosis to PEOPLE magazine during a panel discussion, saying that his father has known about the diagnosis for a while but has refrained from making any public announcements. 

"He's not very open about it because he doesn't want to be the face of anything," Josh says. "It's just, Parkinson's sucks. It's a hard disease. It's a hard diagnosis."

He said his father has been able to manage his symptoms through deep brain stimulation therapy after getting two electrodes surgically implanted in his brain.

The technology has allowed the 72-year-old grandfather to play with his grandchildren.

"He can literally control his brain with his iPhone, which is wild," Josh explains. "Without his therapy, he's basically not able to do anything. And then when he turns his therapy back on with his phone, then he can stand up, he can walk around, he can hold a drink without spilling it, he can eat, he can communicate. It's a night and day shift."

While Jeff has shown support for Jimmy Carter as his father turned 100 years old in hospice care, Josh Carter said his ability to visit has been limited due to his own medical issues.

"We're going into this with eyes wide open knowing that we're going to have more and more responsibilities going on, and it's just got to be a part of life," Josh says.

Jeff's wife, Annette Carter, died in 2021 at the age of 68. His middle child, Jeremy Carter, died suddenly after suffering a heart attack in 2015.