Brett Favre Shares Message Amid His Ongoing Battle With Parkinson’s

Favre was diagnosed in Jan. 2024. Five specialists told him that because he has no family history of the disease, his years of head trauma were likely the cause. He shared the news publicly in Sept. 2024 while speaking to a House committee.

He estimated he had "thousands" of concussions throughout his career. Research supports his concerns because a 2020 study found that even a single concussion can increase a person's risk of Parkinson’s by 57%.

However, he has remained very positive about his illness and penned recently, "Today, on Parkinson's World Day, I'm thinking of everyone affected by the disease and their families and friends helping those with Parkinson's every day. As I continue my battle with it — keep pushing, keep hoping, and know you're not alone."

Favre’s Parkinson’s doesn't look like what most people expect. On his podcast, "4th and Favre," he explained that he has idiopathic Parkinson’s, but his main symptoms are stiffness and rigidity rather than shaking. 

Then, in an interview on the Sage Steele podcast, he described the disease as "scary" and detailed difficulty swallowing along with intense joint stiffness. 

To manage the progression, he takes medicine every four hours. He says that 20 minutes after a dose, it feels like he has a "total new body." He has also reflected on his father, who died at that same age. 

Per CBSSports, he said, “I know we were talking about my dad, and he died at 56. I'm almost there. But I have taken way better care of myself, even though football is not taking real good care of myself."

While there is no cure, patients use medications like levodopa to manage symptoms by increasing dopamine levels in the brain. So, Favre has expressed that his goal is to keep dominating the disease day by day and is praying for a cure that could be only 5–10 years away.