NFL icon Brett Favre has shared his issues with his tough battle with Parkinson’s.
The Green Bay Packers legend revealed that he had the disease during a congressional hearing last September.
NFL icon Brett Favre revealed he had Parkinson’s disease while he testified before a House committee last September[/caption]
The Hall of Fame quarterback Favre played in the NFL for 20 seasons.
He spent most of his time with the Packers, where he won the Super Bowl in 1997.
Favre has previously opened up about his battle with Parkinson’s.
The 55-year-old would do so again, as he explained that a new symptom that he has struggled with is finding it tough to swallow during a podcast appearance on The Sage Steele Show.
“There’s times where I think I’m choking. It’s sort of scary because they can’t fix that [but] I try not to think about it,” Favre said to former ESPN star Sage Steele.
“I try to just focus on getting after the day.
‘But there are often times during the day, maybe at night, when I decompress and I think I’m progressing a little bit.
‘There’s no way to predict who is going to progress faster than others.
“We all age differently.
Favre also said that he wonders whether he has been progressing.
“I constantly think about – even though I know I shouldn’t – am I going to be the one that ages quicker?” he said.
‘Is the disease going to eventually dominate me? I think right now [that] I’m dominating the disease.
‘I wake up every day and think, did I progress 2% or am I staying the same?
“Am I looking into this progression more than I should?
What is Parkinson’s disease?
PARKINSON’S is a progressive neurological condition.
This means that it causes problems in the brain and gets worse over time.
People with Parkinson’s don’t have enough of the chemical dopamine in their brain because some of the nerve cells that make it have stopped working.
Around 145,000 people live with Parkinson’s in the UK.
It’s the fastest growing neurological condition in the world.
Symptoms start to appear when the brain can’t make enough dopamine to control movement properly.
This usually happens around the age of 50, but some people might see the first signs in their 40s.
There are over 40 symptoms, but the three main ones are:
- A tremor (shaking)
- Slowness of movement
- Rigidity (muscle stiffness)
There are several different treatments, therapies and support available to help manage the condition.
Source: Parkinson’s UK
“All those thoughts go through my mind.’”
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic and progressive neurological disorder that affects movement.
Symptoms can include depression, anxiety, hallucinations, apathy, sleep disorders, etc.
Close to one million people are living with Parkinson’s in the United States.
