NEW DELHI: A third generation patient suffering from Parkinson’s has scripted a success story. With the help of sports, he has restricted the incurable disease to a limit wherein he can lead a normal life.
Pramesh Ratnakar is 64. Teaches English at Delhi University. His inclination towards various sports activities helped him cope after being detected with the disease in 2013.
In a recent event involving All India Institute of Medical Sciences doctors and patients, Ratnakar played badminton against a senior doctor. He lost, but it was evident that his will to fight has not. Parkinson’s is a progressive neuro disorder that primarily affects movement due to the loss of specific brain cells.
“It started with a frozen shoulder. The first identifiable symptom was foot drag. I couldn’t walk normally. Second, my handwriting went for a toss. I was losing control of my hand. I began exercising my hands, elbows, wrists, palms. My father and grandfather had the same condition. I had seen them struggle. After some research, I increased the amount of physical activity on a daily basis,” Ratnakar says.
In India, around 20-30 per 1 lakh persons are affected by Parkinson’s. The condition gets progressively worse for almost all of them. According to Achal Kumar Srivastava, head of the movement disorder section at AIIMS’s Department of Neurology, Ratnakar is an example in a country where Parkinson’s is not controlled well. He says Ratnakar’s liking for sports helped him put a check on the disease.
“As life expectancy is increasing, we are at a risk of witnessing an increase in the number of patients suffering from Parkinson’s.” Dr Rupa Rajan, Assistant Professor of Neurology at AIIMS, says medication is important but “physical activity has some kind of neuro protective effect”.
Parkinson’s patients also have non-motor issues like mood swings, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance and behavioral disorders which can be disabling, Dr Rajan said. Dr Satish Chandra, former director of NIMHANS in Bengaluru, says, “Playing tennis, badminton, running marathons and cycling are activities my patients find comfortable doing.
However, it must be noted that patients should first undergo neurological examination to rule out a component of parkinson’s called Postural Disturbance. Such patients will not be able to control their propulsion (forward) movements and retropulsion (backward) movements. They may suddenly run forward or backward and may fall. So such patients should avoid playing.”
Ratnakar has become a role model. “I treat Parkinson’s as a game. I use my imagination to come up with solutions to the challenges.” He has also delivered motivational speeches to other patients.