It was a beautiful day, just the same as any other that spring. But it would be a day that changed the life of young Pat Gray. Pat's parents brought him in to the hospital earlier in the week because he had a bad fall at his basketball game, where he hit his head on the gym floor. He was attempting to break his record of 40 points in one game, when he tripped while going in for a lay-up. He was traveling at such a great speed, that the impact of his head on the floor was tremendous. After the accident, he walked with erratic motions, and his speech was slightly slurred. It was one of the most devastating accidents to occur at Pat's school; he was the best basketball player at there school in years. Most people believed that he would be able to go to college on a full basketball scholarship. His parents immediately brought him into the hospital to get some tests done to find out what might have happened to their son. Now that the results of the tests were back, Pat and his parents had a meeting with Dr. Stevens to find out Pat's diagnosis.
"It seems as if your son has damaged some neurons in his brain that regulate the release of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that controls motor movements, and the lack of enough dopamine in the brain is what leads to Parkinson's disease. Although we are not sure just yet, because we need to observe a bit more, we think Pat has acquired Parkinson's through the damage of almost all of his dopamine regulating cells."
"How is that possible?" Pat's father exclaimed. "Only old people get Parkinson's disease."
"I know this is very shocking news, but that is our current diagnosis, and we will do whatever we can to fully figure out what has happened to Pat. If we are correct so far, this is an extremely unique case in which we do not know how the damage was caused, yet we should be able to help the symptoms with medications and therapy."
"But Pat won't be able to play basketball anymore? We can't be sure that... [continues]
"It seems as if your son has damaged some neurons in his brain that regulate the release of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that controls motor movements, and the lack of enough dopamine in the brain is what leads to Parkinson's disease. Although we are not sure just yet, because we need to observe a bit more, we think Pat has acquired Parkinson's through the damage of almost all of his dopamine regulating cells."
"How is that possible?" Pat's father exclaimed. "Only old people get Parkinson's disease."
"I know this is very shocking news, but that is our current diagnosis, and we will do whatever we can to fully figure out what has happened to Pat. If we are correct so far, this is an extremely unique case in which we do not know how the damage was caused, yet we should be able to help the symptoms with medications and therapy."
"But Pat won't be able to play basketball anymore? We can't be sure that... [continues]
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