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Explaining Parkinson’s disease in light of Brett Favre’s diagnosis

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Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Brett Favre, 54, announced at a congressional hearing Tuesday that he has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Other pro athletes like legendary boxer Muhammad Ali and Baseball Hall of Fame member Kirk Gibson have battled the degenerative disease. Here are a few more details on it.

According to the Mayo Clinic, Parkinson’s Disease affects movement of the nervous system, causing tremors, slowed movement and balance problems, among other symptoms. The disease progressively gets worse over time and is more common in males over 50.

The cause of the disease is unknown, but genes and environmental factors could increase the risk of Parkinson’s, according to Mayo Clinic.

At the moment, there isn’t a cure for Parkinson’s disease. However, medicines and even some surgeries can help control patients’ symptoms, according to Mayo Clinic.

Many charities, such as the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, have contributed money into research for a cure.

According to a study done by Fox’s foundation and Boston University in 2023, playing football can increase the risk of Parkinson’s or related symptoms, including among people who only played at the amateur level. The study also said the longer someone plays football, the greater the risk of Parkinson’s.

Football has long been linked to other neurological diseases, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated injuries to the head, according to Mayo Clinic.



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What a federal government shutdown would mean for Minnesota

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Minnesota National Guard personnel in active duty status still have to report to work to maintain military operations, but part-time members and their units will not conduct previously scheduled training, drills or exercises during the shutdown.

More than 300 corrections officers at four federal prisons across Minnesota will be working without pay. Minnesota’s four federal district court offices would also operate as usual.

While most government benefits will continue, things like benefit verification letters, updates to earnings records and replacement of Medicare cards will have to wait until the government reopens.

The state’s one national park — Voyageurs in northern Minnesota — along with several national monuments and other sites could temporarily lose staff, but closures are decided on a case-by-case basis. The same applies to national forests, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, as well as other federal lands, including national wildlife refuges.

About a year ago, Congress narrowly averted a shutdown during a spending standoff in the House. The last time government spending lapsed and there was a partial shutdown was in December 2018 over disagreements about funding Trump’s wall on the border with Mexico.

That partial shutdown last 34 days, the longest on record, but it didn’t affect the entire government because Congress had already passed some spending bills.



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Trump’s words of opposition stop a bipartisan budget deal in its tracks with Musk’s help

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“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” he wrote. He also called it ‘’one of the worst bills ever written.‘’

Sometimes Musk amplified false claims, such as the idea that the legislation included $3 billion for a new football stadium in Washington. In reality, the legislation would transfer ownership of the land from the federal government to the city, paving the way for eventual development.

Musk appeared emboldened by the experience.

‘‘The voice of the people was heard,‘’ Musk wrote. ‘’This was a good day for America.”

Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries said the fallout would be Republicans’ fault.

‘‘You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow,” he wrote on X.



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Man at Twin Cities jail suffers medical emergency and dies days later

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A man arrested in Dakota County who exhibited “seizure-like symptoms” during jail intake died days later, according to court records and the Sheriff’s Office.

Kingsley Fifi Bimpong, 50, of Cottage Grove, was taken to the jail in Hastings on Nov. 19 on suspicision of drunken driving in Eagan, a search warrant affidavit made public Wednesday disclosed.

Sheriff Joe Leko said Thursday that Bimpong “was incoherent, and his condition deteriorated. … We rushed him to the hospital as soon as we could see that it wasn’t good.”

Leko suggested that Bimpong might have actually been affected more by whatever medical difficulty he was having at the time, rather than being intoxicated.

The sheriff said Bimpong died a few days later, and “we’re waiting on the medical examiner’s report” for a determination of what led to the death.

An affidavit was filed by Washington County Sheriff’s Office seeking permission to collect Bimpong’s medical records that might shed light on his death. The neighboring Sheriff’s Office is heading the investigation in order to avoid a conflict of interest, Leko said.

According to the affidavit:

At the jail, Bimpong was unable to complete the booking process and “was eventually noticed by correction officers as having seizure-like symptoms while in the intake waiting area.”



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