From Wilhelm von Humboldt to Hitler - are prominent people more prone to have Parkinson's disease?

We describe Parkinsonism in prominent people, where Wilhelm von Humboldt an d Adolf Hitler provide just two spectacular, opposing examples. In both of them, there is little if any evidence that the disease did influence their life ambitions, methods of achieving them or cognitive function in general. Thus, Hitler's Parkinsonism should remain a 'footnote' to history, and his torians should acknowledge that in his last years, his trembling, his curbe d posture, his slow walking, mask-like face and low voice did not indicate remorse, fear or depression as a consequence of his crimes, but were mere e xpressions of his disease which, until the end, had no impact on his intell ectual skills and methods. The apparently higher incidence of Parkinsonism in prominent people may be just due to their higher visibility, or a conseq uence of disease-related personality traits (e.g. ambition, perfectionism, rigidity) which may contribute to becoming, e.g., a prominent authoritarian person. Perhaps even some early behaviour pattern (such as repressed emoti ons or acting in public-which could even increase the risk of some infectio n) contributes to a greater vulnerability for developing Parkinsonism. Furt her studying other prominent cases might lead us to better understanding of risk factors and the expression of early Parkinsonism. (C) 2000 Elsevier S cience Ltd. All rights reserved.