Parkinson’s diagnosis
After struggling with symptoms of the disease for nearly eight years Ronstadt is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She says the disease has stopped her singing:
I can’t sing a note. I knew it was mechanical. I knew it had to do with the muscles, but I thought it might have also had something to do with the tick disease that I had. And it didn’t occur to me to go to a neurologist…In fact, I couldn’t sing for the last five or six years I appeared on stage, but I kept trying. I kept thinking, ‘What if I tried singing upside down? Or standing on my head? Or while juggling? [Laughs] Maybe I’d be able to sing better then.’ So I didn’t know why I couldn’t sing — all I knew was that it was muscular, or mechanical. Then, when I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, I was finally given the reason.
Parkinson’s diagnosis
Reno is diagnosed with Parkinson’s two years into her term, after realizing something might be wrong with her left hand.
I noticed a tremor in my early-morning walks around the Capitol. At first it was just a faint twitch, but it got progressively worse, and so I went to the doctor. He asked me some questions, examined me, and told me that I had Parkinson’s and that I’d be fine for 20 years…I went to the bookstore and got as many books as I could find. I read, and then after talking with my family and friends, I told my doctor that I wanted to make a full statement about it and have him available to answer questions….I made sure that I told the President [Bill Clinton] and everyone else that they should be honest with me if they thought I wasn’t able to serve. He was very supportive. Then I just moved ahead. I made a decision to continue doing my job.
Parkinson’s diagnosis
Ali is diagnosed with Parkinson’s, after suffering from tremors, slurred speech and slowed body movements for three years. Doctors prescribe drugs which alleviate the worst of his symptoms.