Milwaukee sports neurology doctor gives his take on Favre’s diagnosis
Updated: September 25, 2024 5:00 PM CDT
One of the biggest news stories today is that Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre announced that he has Parkinson’s disease. He shared the news in an internal testimony. >> Sadly, I lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a concussion drug. Having recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, you can see why it’s too late for me. This is important to me. Christine: He played 20 years in the NFL and suffered multiple concussions. Studies have found that there is a link between traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s disease. Derrick: Dr. Kate Essad will be joining us now. She is the medical director of concussion and sports neurology at Aurora Healthcare in Milwaukee. Thanks for coming. For our viewers who are not familiar with Parkinson’s disease, please explain what it is and how it affects a person. >> Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease. It’s a disease in which the brain ages in some abnormal way. In the case of Parkinson’s, it’s caused by abnormal protein buildup in the areas that control movement. Derrick: Talk about the research that shows a link between contact sports, specifically football, and the development of Parkinson’s. >> Our research focuses on people who’ve played football from childhood through adulthood, not necessarily into adulthood and beyond. The data that we have shows that, at least for people who aren’t professional athletes, people who play contact sports don’t necessarily have a higher incidence of neurodegenerative diseases. But the concussion itself is strictly speaking a temporary change in brain chemistry, and research is geared toward what the impact is of multiple blows to the head with or without concussion, and how that impacts brain health in the long term. Derrick: Is that something that parents and families should consider? You mentioned athletes who’ve been playing sports for years. What kind of questions should parents ask if their child is going to participate in a sport like football? >> The most important thing for parents of kids who play these sports is to consider safety from all angles. Do the teams use the most high-tech equipment? Are the coaches teaching the kids how to use their bodies properly and safely interact with other players? Also, what are the disadvantages of a student or child not playing sports? Being excluded from team sports, whether contact or not, often results in more negative effects and long-term development. Derrick: Brett Favre announced today, so we still don’t know how Parkinson’s has affected him, but we’re in Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad Ali’s hometown. He had Parkinson’s. His tremors and cognitive decline were visibly evident. What can we expect from Brett Favre in the future? >> Every body and brain experiences neurological issues differently, whether it’s seizures or dementia or organ failure. Parkinson’s is also a very tricky disease. Other symptoms of Parkinson’s include slow movement, dementia, and some people have completely normal function just with excessive abnormal tremors. So it’s hard to say what Brett Favre will experience, how the diagnosis was made, and what education he received about his condition. Derrick: As research into these links continues, we all have a lot to learn. Thank you for joining us.
Milwaukee sports neurology doctor gives his take on Favre’s diagnosis
Updated: September 25, 2024 5:00 PM CDT
