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The actor was battling Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.
The population-based geographic study identified nearly 90,000 people with Parkinson’s disease from a Medicare dataset of nearly 22-million.
The disease which afflicts over 10 million people worldwide, currently has no cure, but certain medical treatments can offer relief from its symptoms.
'If I make 80, that'll be a miracle', said the former Australian captain.
The study, published in Neurology, however, does not prove that exercise lowers the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. It only shows an association.
Usually, Parkinson’s afflicts those above 50 years. However, about 10% of patients develop the disease before 40 years of age mainly due to genetic factors.
The exact cause of Parkinsonism is not fully understood, but researchers believe that a combination of genetic and environmental factors may play a role.
The disease occurs because of the destruction of nerve cells in an area of the brain called substantia nigra - the nerve cells, which produce an important chemical called dopamine.
The study offers a new way to study how the degenerative brain disease progresses and explore possible new treatments.
The findings, published in the journal Nature, may help explain why about one-third of individuals hospitalised for Covid report symptoms of neurological problems.