Parkinson's Awareness Month:30 Days-30 Stories/Day Twenty-Three: Parkinsonism Pugilistica
The last few days have been dealing with athletes and how/if head injuries lead to Parkinson's and other neurological diseases.
The most visible example of this would be boxers. You often see a boxer after and sometimes during his career show symptoms of Parkinson's. This could be a case of Parkinsonism Pugilistica and not regular Parkinson's Disease.
I received a better explanation from The National Parkinson's Foundation.
Also, there is another condition called Parkinsonism Pugilistica. This should not be confused with regular or classical Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism pugilistica is thought to occur as a result of repeated blows to the head, and in some cases can result from multiple bad concussions. Most cases of the syndrome have been referred to in the scientific literature as Dementia Pugilistica. It is somewhat rare to observe the classical parkinsonian features of regular Parkinson’s disease associated with this head trauma related syndrome. It is possible however, to observe some overlap symptoms (tremor, stiffness, slowness, walking issues) with the behavioral features. The pattern and temporal occurrence of cognitive problems, and also the poor response to dopaminergic therapy can help one to distinguish Parkinsonism Pugilistica from regular Parkinson’s disease. One should not assume that just because a person was a past boxer that they suffer from Dementia or Parkinsonism Pugilistica, or both.
To learn more about Parkinsonism Puglistica, click here: http://www.parkinson.org/.../What-you-need-to-know-about...
Tomorrow- Muhammad Ali