More than a decade after retiring from football, Brett Favre says he has Parkinson’s disease. Here's what to know about its symptoms and treatments.
Favre told a congressional hearing Tuesday that he had been recently diagnosed. There are nearly 90,000 new Parkinson’s cases each year in the U.S., according to the Parkinson's Foundation.Parkinson’s is a neurologic disease that robs people of control over their movements. It typically starts with tremors, and is characterized by slow movement, a shuffling gait, stiff limbs, balance problems and slurred speech.
The exact cause isn’t known but Parkinson’s develops when cells that produce one of the brain’s chemical messengers, called dopamine, begin to deteriorate and die. Dopamine transports signals to parts of the brain that control movement. Parkinson’s symptoms appear after enough dopamine-producing cells die that there’s too little of this neurotransmitter in the brain.
According to the foundation, most experts believe genetic and environmental factors are behind the disease. Dozens of gene mutations linked to Parkinson's have been discovered and genetics account for 10 to 15% of all Parkinson's, the group says. Other factors suspected of increasing the risk include head injuries, exposure to pesticides and herbicides and where you live.
While Parkinson’s itself isn’t considered fatal, people can die from complications of the disease, including lung problems as muscle weakness impedes the ability to cough and to swallow.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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