Mohammed Ali: what the boxer was sick, symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Mohammed Ali is remembered to the world as a professional boxer and public figure from the United States. He was the first fighter to win the world heavyweight championship three times and successfully defended the title 19 times.

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Status of Mohammed Ali

Mohammed Ali was still boxing professionally when observers first noticed signs of neurological deterioration. His last fight was in 1981, when the boxer was 39 years old.

Mohammed Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease three years later, in 1984. At that time, many doctors believed that the disease was most likely related to his profession and caused by numerous blows to the head during his career.

MD, professor of medicine, expert at Manor Medical Center (Israel)

“There has long been an ongoing debate in the medical community that repeated blows to the head contributed to Mohammed Ali’s progressive tremor and cognitive impairment, but the situation was clarified by the neurologists treating him.”

The boxer died at the age of 74 in June 2016. In the wishes expressed before his death, he refused an autopsy. This is why a postmortem diagnosis was not made at the time.

However, several years later, based on extensive long-term clinical and cinematic observations, doctors were able to prove that Mohammed Ali had Parkinson’s disease with early onset, rather than a form of dementia caused by repetitive head trauma.

The nature of his symptoms showed that his disease was long-lasting and progressive, the team of neurologists wrote in a review published in the journal JAMA Neurology.

What is Parkinson’s disease?

Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that affects the nervous system and parts of the body controlled by nerves. It is accompanied by involuntary or uncontrolled movements that can be characterized by tremors, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination.

While virtually everyone can be at risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, some research papers show that the condition affects more men than women. It’s unclear what this is due to, but research is being done to understand the factors that may increase a person’s risk of developing the disease.

One obvious risk is age: although most people first develop Parkinson’s disease after the age of 60, about 5-10% have the disease before the age of 50. Early forms of Parkinson’s disease are often, but not always, inherited, and some forms are associated with specific changes in genes.

Symptoms of the disease

The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease usually begin gradually and progress over time, impairing a person’s quality of life. As the disease progresses, people may have difficulty walking and speaking, experience mental and behavioral changes, sleep problems, depression, memory problems and fatigue.

The most pronounced signs of the disease develop during damage to specific nerve cells, they are called “basal ganglia”. They are located in the area of the brain responsible for movement. These cells become damaged and/or die and their function is impaired.

The basal ganglia produce an important chemical in the brain called dopamine. Consequently, when these cells are damaged, less dopamine is produced, resulting in the patient’s apparent movement problems. Doctors have never figured out the true cause that triggers the damage and death of these neurons.

Additionally, the ability to synthesize noradrenaline is lost, and it controls many vital functions in the body, including blood pressure and heart rate. Decreased norepinephrine production is clinically manifested by unmotivated fatigue, episodes of falling blood pressure, and weakened bowel function.

The disease has primary and secondary symptoms.

The main symptoms are:

Increasing tremor in the extremities over time, noticeable to others and impairing the person’s quality of life;
shaking of the head and jaw;
Muscle stiffness, which leads to slowness and impaired spatial coordination, frequent falls.

Additional symptoms:

Development of depression;
difficulty swallowing food, chewing and speaking;
constipation;
problems with urination.

The disease slowly progresses and gradually limits a person’s ability to live independently more and more.

Can it be cured?

Certainly, if doctors understand the mechanism of damage, there are drugs that can slow the progression of the disease. However, in the case of Parkinson’s disease, unfortunately, scientists do not know the single cause of the disease. And this means that it is impossible to completely cure a person, you can only slow down the process.

Slow or fast course, as well as the progression of the disease depends on the body’s sensitivity to treatment. The higher the body’s positive response to treatment, the greater the chance of life, and vice versa.

Various methods can be used in the treatment of a patient with Parkinson’s disease: medication, surgery, and symptomatic treatment.

It is important to realize that there is no single drug that can cure the disease. It is only possible to alleviate or slow the progression of the disease. Only a qualified neurologist specializing in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease can choose the treatment method or combination of treatments.