Two journalists who are not hiding from Parkinson’s disease

It fluttered like a butterfly and stung like a bee. Charismatic both in and out of the ring, Muhammad Ali was always Louis Canute’s greatest idol. Now the journalist is fighting the same enemy that destroyed the magic of one of the best boxers of all time: Parkinson’s disease. “I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not, but one of the people I most admire went through this too,” he reflects.

Josep Ramon Correal was the director Diary of Tarragona and he turned 60 years old on the day when neurologist Jordi Batll ​​diagnosed him with this pathology. “What a birthday present you just gave me,” he told her. He turns 70 next Thursday. He continues to write columns and has worked for many years (he is a board member of the Spanish Parkinson’s Federation) to raise public awareness of the world’s second most common neurodegenerative disease. the number of diagnoses could triple in the next 30 years.

One disclosed his illness during the interview; another, in a newspaper article

The two journalists face the disorder in their own unique ways, but have common denominators such as strategies and medications to prevent its progression, trying to live as normal a life as possible, and trusting that it will follow them throughout their lives. “We know that we will not die from Parkinson’s disease, but we will die with Parkinson’s disease,” they agreed during a colloquium as part of Parkinson’s Day on the Move, held in Barcelona, ​​organized by various organizations with the aim of spreading the fight against this incurable pathology. which affects about 160,000 people in Spain.

On May 5, 67-year-old Canute told Albert Ohm on television that he was suffering from the disease. Macaw . I didn’t mean to do this, but the question was very direct: two days after a TV3 retirement dinner with fifty colleagues. “I didn’t plan this, but he asked me if I had any disease and then I didn’t want to hide it. I felt neither liberated nor disappointed. “I didn’t want to hide anything, but I didn’t want to take a loudspeaker with me either.” The revelation from a character like Canute had a huge resonance in the media. “Good for making Parkinson’s visible,” Correal would say.

The sports journalist didn’t even think about the “fireplace.” He was diagnosed almost 8 years ago by a neurologist, whom he visited after he felt a slight tremor in his left arm in the morning. “I didn’t pay too much attention to it because I felt great, and in fact I remained professionally active until I retired, and I’m still not retired,” he recalls. This is proven by their articles published every two weeks in Vanguard .

“Parkinsonism is being talked about more and more because there are as many patients as there are diseases,” Correal explains.

He had difficulty revealing himself to Correal, who made his illness public in a magazine article. Morning – Ilerda newspaper, of which he was also the director, – April 11, 2022. “Tink Parkinson,” the headline said without ambiguity. For seven years, only his immediate family and his editor, Luis Sánchez-Friera, who died last year, knew about it.

“The semiotic load of the word Parkinson’s still has this stigma, which means that when you are diagnosed, the first phase is denial, seeking a second opinion and hiding. You have to overcome this. If we don’t come out of the closet, we won’t know the prevalence of this disease and how it also affects family members because it invalidates you and you increasingly need more support. Hiding this is a mistake, because for treatment it is necessary to anticipate the diagnosis. There is no cure, but there is a way to calm it down if you notice it early. There are highly advanced treatments that allow us to lead almost normal lives, if not normal ones. But we have to be on time.”

“They are talking more and more about Parkinsonism, because there are as many patients as there are diseases. Each patient develops different symptoms and requires different treatments,” explains Correal. It is definitely recommended to play sports. He plays table tennis: “This is one of the best treatments, it can stimulate reflexes and the musculoskeletal system. It is one of the sports included in NASA astronaut training protocols because it stimulates reflexes and other physical abilities.” Canute works with a personal trainer and, as always, continues to play golf. “I don’t give up clubs because it’s a way to feel happy and motivated,” he says, even though his power and accuracy have declined.

70% of patients are over 65 years old

Parkinson’s is
a neurodegenerative and chronic disease that affects between 120,000 and 150,000 people in Spain. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is also the second most common neurological diagnosis among people over 65 years of age. 70% of people diagnosed are over 65 years of age, and about 10,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. However, patients with Parkinson’s disease take an average of 1 to 3 years to be diagnosed, and it is believed that up to 25% of those diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease actually have another condition. Parkinson’s disease is not limited to older people: 15% of patients are under 50 years of age, and there are also cases where the disease begins in childhood or adolescence.