Former NBA power forward Brian Grantannounced that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in January-- the same condition afflicting Michael J. Fox, Muhammad Ali, and, incidentally, my grandmother.

After consulting Fox and Ali, he made some rapid lifestyle changes, such as taking several daily doses of vitamins, and some of his symptoms have begun to subside.

Grant was drafted in the first round, eighth overall, by the Sacramento Kings in 1994, and played three seasons for them, three for Portland, four for Miami, one for the L.A. Lakers, and 21 games for Phoenix before announcing his retirement due to chronically bad knees. He averaged 10.5 PPG and 7.4 RPG during his career, and notably was involved in the multi-player deal that brought Shaquille O'Neal (and ultimately a championship) to the Heat organization.

Parkinson's is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system, and for most people has no specific cause, although there is some evidence to support the theory that those that have relatives with the disease are more likely to have the disease themselves. Symptoms include tremors of the body, stiffness of the muscles, fatigue, insomnia, short-term memory loss, and weight loss, along with many others. Fortunately, by itself it's not considered fatal; on the other hand, there's no cure.

Best wishes to Brian.

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