Rev. Jesse Jackson announces he has Parkinson's disease

Rev. Jesse Jackson announces he has Parkinson's.

CHICAGO, Illinois -- Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson has announced he is battling Parkinson's disease, the illness that took his father's life.

The 76-year-old Jackson said over the last three years, he found it increasingly difficult to perform routine tasks, and getting around became more of a challenge.

"For a while, I resisted interrupting my work to visit a doctor," Jackson said in a news release. "But as my daily physical struggles intensified I could no longer ignore the symptoms, so I acquiesced."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson talks to students and teachers at an assembly Monday, Dec. 1, 2014.AP

In this May 8, 1988 file photo Jesse Jackson poses with his sons Jesse Jr. and Jonathan after he gave the commencement address and his sons graduated from North Carolina A&T.AP

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. and the Rev. Jesse Jackson are seen at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Awards Breakfast in Chicago in this Jan. 15, 2007 photo.AP

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is seen here with Jackson just prior to his final public appearance on April 4, 1968. King was assassinated later that day outside his motel room.AP

In this Jan. 4, 1984 file photo, President Reagan and Dem. presidential hopeful Jackson gesture shortly after a White House ceremony honoring Navy Lt. Robert O. Goodman.AP

FILE - In this July 9, 2009, file photo the Rev. Jesse Jackson stands in an area in the rear of Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip Ill. Thursday, July 9, 2009.AP

FILE - Rev. Jesse Jackson at the Microsoft Corp. annual shareholders meeting on December 3, 2014.AP

Rev. Jesse Jackson looks on during a vigil for 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was fatally shot and killed Oct. 20, 2014 in Chicago.AP

Jackson sits atop a horse on Oct. 26, 2016, while visiting the protest camp against the Dakota Access oil pipeline outside Cannon Ball, N.D.AP

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talks to Rev. Jessie Jackson after speaking at a Rainbow PUSH Women's International Luncheon in Chicago, Monday, June 27, 2016.AP

In this Sept. 20, 1984, file photo, Jackson beams as he holds the hand of former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. The duo appeared before newsmen in New York.AP

Rainbow PUSH founder and President Rev. Jesse Jackson at the organization's Christmas basket giveaway.none

Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks at Rainbow Push Coalition headquarters.none

Reverend Jesse Jackson took part in a peaceful protest Saturday, lying in the street outside the national headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.none

Jackson said after a battery of tests, his physicians identified the issue as Parkinson's.

"Recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful, and I have been slow to grasp the gravity of it," he said. "For me, a Parkinson's diagnosis is not a stop sign but rather a signal that I must make lifestyle changes and dedicate myself to physical therapy in hopes of slowing the disease's progression."

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