As if an early knockout at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez wasn't bad enough for Manny Pacquiao, several Filipino doctors now say they think the champion fighter is showing early signs of Parkinson's disease.
Dr. Rustico Jimenez, president of Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, has not examined Pacquiao, but when he watches Pacquiao on TV, he sees a few telltale signs of the disease: Stuttering and hand twitching. Bad Left Hook translated a radio interview by Jimenez, and below is an excerpt:
“Even though his reflexes are quick, I noticed the movement -- it's just another view, my personal view -- but it seems like there are early signs," Jimenez said. "There are some movements that you will notice with his hands. It's in the hands, and not the head, where you can easily see this. It twitches a little bit. Although I haven't seen it up close, I think I am seeing that there are some signs.”
Dr. Raquel Fortun, a renowned Filipino forensics expert, said she is skeptical of the CT scan results that cleared Pacquiao after his loss to Marquez. She said repeated head trama can lead to Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
"When the brain gets shook like that, it's very dangerous," Fortun said via a translation by Bad Left Hook. "Since it's not truly fixed to you skull, when your brain gets shaken, there are connections that get cut off, and you get small hemorrhages."
Neither of these doctors has examined Pacquiao, so their diagnoses should be taken with a grain of salt. But Parkinson's has proven to be a concern for boxers. Other well-known fighters, like Muhammed Ali and Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach, have developed Parkinson's after their fighting careers.
(H/T to Off the Bench)
