LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When appearing before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday, retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre announced he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
This has lead to many questions about what is Parkinson's disease and what connection could it have to someone facing frequent concussions like Favre had as a professional football player.
Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder that affects a person's ability to control their limbs, causing shaking, poor balance, difficulty speaking and other physical symptoms.
Director of Movement Disorders at Norton Neuroscience institute Dr. Justin Phillips said patients with the disease often have mobility issues, muscle stiffness or sometimes tremors.
Parkinson's disease, which has no cure, usually progresses as a patient ages, and usually appears after age 60, although it can occasionally appear in younger people. Favre is 54 years old.
These symptoms have to do with the substantia nigra, the part of the brain that controls motor skills. When someone has Parkinson's, there will be degeneration in this part of the brain due to a misfolding of proteins.
"As these proteins misfold and accumulate, we see cell death in that part of the brain and degeneration over time, which can result in the pathology of the disease," Phillips said.
When it comes to Favre's case, his time in the NFL and history of concussions could be a risk factor for his diagnosis.
"Almost nobody who gets Parkinson's disease gets Parkinson's disease for one single reason, so there are a number of things that can contribute to that, both genetic and environmental," Phillips said.
However, he said there are multiple studies that show concussions leading to an increased risk for Parkinson's disease, such as research done by the Parkinson's Foundation.
Their study found people who suffered a single concussion in one’s lifetime had a 57% increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
Phillips said there is no way to know if the number of concussions is linked to an increased risk but he said concussions should be treated like a severe injury.
"It's important to note that a concussion itself is a brain injury. It's not just getting your bell rung. You're having neurologic symptoms because you've injured your brain," he said.
Favre isn't the only notable name to disclose having Parkinson's disease.
Louisville native and boxing champ Muhammad Ali was diagnosed three years after retiring from the ring. Actor Michael J. Fox first began noticing early-onset symptoms by the time he was 29. And in 2020, musician Ozzy Osbourne announced his diagnosis on "Good Morning America."
"The good thing about this being in the public eye is the awareness," Phillips said.
He said while there is not constant updates in studies or data on neurological disorders, we should always be aware of the risk factors, especially as it concerns younger people in contact sports.
There are innovations being made such as the guardian helmet. Athletes in the NFL are now permitted to wear them not just in practice but also during games.
The cap is a padded, soft-shell layer that attaches to the outside of the hard-shell football helmets, which is said to reduce the severity of impact blows to the head by about 10%, according to the NFL.
The helmet can help but Phillips said he hasn't seen them used as often. He said for some people wanting to seem tougher may outweigh the risks associated with a head injury.
"I think as we go forward and we want to continue to enjoy these long standing traditions, we need to find ways to make it safe for our young people to grow into healthy old people," Phillips said.
Favre's testimony on Tuesday was part of an inquiry by Congress into a Mississippi welfare misspending scandal, where the state's department of human services allowed well-connected people to waste tens of millions of welfare dollars from 2016 to 2019, according to Mississippi Auditor Shad White and state and federal prosecutors.
"Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others, and I’m sure you’ll understand why it’s too late for me because I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s," Favre said. "This is also a cause dear to my heart. Recently, the doctor running the company pleaded guilty to taking TANF money for his own use."
Favre is not facing any criminal charges, but he is among more than three dozen defendants in a civil lawsuit the state filed in 2022.
