Parkinson's disease may have been a key factor in Adolf Hitler's downfall
The dictator suffered the disease, and the mental inflexibility associated with it could have been what led to his slow response to the D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944
Dr Tom Hutton, a neurologist who co-authored the study, said Hitler was suffering physical and mental symptoms of the disease, Dr Hutton, of the Neurology Research and Education Centre in Texas used records from officials who treated Hitler in 1944 and 1945 that described him as having lost "his mental flexibility".
Hitler was treated by his personal physician, Dr Theo Morrell. Theo Morell was well known in Germany for his unconventional, holistic and alternative treatments. Dr Morell kept very detailed diaries of his treatment of Hitler’s Parkinson’s Disease
Dr Hutton, of the Neurology Research and Education Centre in Texas used records from officials who treated Hitler in 1944 and 1945 that described him as having lost "his mental flexibility".
Adolf Hitler had Parkinson symptoms in 1934, at age 45 years. He may have had transient symptoms in 1923, at age 34 years. Young-onset parkinsonism, during the 1920s, favored a diagnosis of post-encephalitic rather than idiopathic parkinsonism. Hitler had oculogyric crises, phenomena only associated with post-encephalitic parkinsonism. In addition, he had dystonic facial spasms, palilalia and a sleep disorder, phenomena more likely to be associated with post-encephalitic than idiopathic parkinsonism. In November 1918, at age 29 years, Hitler may have had von Economo’s encephalitis, while he was a patient in a hospital, recovering from poison gas”
It has been proved that Adolf Hitler suffered from idiopathic Parkinson's disease. No indication for postencephalitic parkinsonism was found in the clinical symptoms or the case history. Professor Max de Crinis established his diagnosis of Parkinson's disease in Hitler early in 1945 and informed the SS leadership, who decided to initiate treatment with a specially prepared 'antiparkinsonian mixture' to be administered by a physician. However, Hitler never received the mixture, this implies that the SS intended to remove the severely diseased 'Leader'.