Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers in history was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1984. He continued to be as active as possible. He participated in events like the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he lit the torch and even attended Barack Obama's inaugration. Because of his battle with the illness, he decided to establish Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in 1997.

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative illness which affects the nervous system. The National Parkinson Foundation has estimated that around one million people suffer from it, and every year, 50,000 to 60,000 cases keep adding on to the list in the United States of America.

There is no fatality involved with it but the symptoms are so severe that it can affect movement and mobility and cause problems like tremors, gait and balancing issues. These happen due to the brain's inability to communicate properly.

Factors that contribute to Parkinson's are genetics, environment, lewy bodies, damage to the cells that produce dopamine, etc.

Parkinson's Disease Foundation has found that 15 to 25 per cent of those suffering from Parkinson's have a relative suffering from it and the risk of getting affected by it is 4 to 9 times greater if a parent or sibling has it.

The Foundation has also said that there has been evidence that exposure to insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and other chemicals have been associated with Parkinson's disease. The condition in which one lives like living in rural areas, drinking water from a well have also seen to have a link to the disease.

For the patients, medications and treatments are required throughout the day to show beneficial results. Several doses of medications are required to prevent worsening of symptoms.

    In 2002, deep brain simulation has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for the disease but there have barely been any advances since, due to just one company acquiring permission to deliver the treatment.

    A promising area for the future in the treatment of Parkinson's disease is the repairing of brain cells that are lost. Neural transplantation that has been performed in the patients has seen mixed results, with some doing really well while others either showed no improvement or developed complications.