Rev. Jesse Jackson discharged from Chicago’s Northwestern Hospital, family says

CHICAGO (WLS) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. has been released from a downtown hospital after spending nearly two weeks there, his family said in a statement. The 84-year-old civil rights activist’s family says he was discharged from Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Monday, and he remains in stable condition. ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch This comes after he was moved out of the Intensive Care Unit last week. Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013, his family says. In April, the diagnosis changed to progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurological disorder. “Our family would like to thank the countless friends and supporters who have reached out, visited, and prayed for our father. We bear witness to the fact that prayer works and would also like to thank the professional, caring, and amazing medical and security staff at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. We humbly ask for your continued prayers throughout this precious time,” said his son and family spokesperson, Yusef Jackson. Jackson gained national attention in the 1960s as Martin Luther King Jr.’s protégé. Jackson spent more than 60 years advocating for racial equality and economic justice. He ran for U. S. president in 1984 and 1988. He helped to found the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition, an organization dedicated to social justice. He spent nearly three decades leading Rainbow PUSH before stepping down in 2023. What is PSP? Dr. Jori Fleisher, a neurologist at Rush University Medical Center, said PSP is also known as “Parkinson’s plus,” or an atypical Parkinson’s condition. “People have this unusual tendency in PSP to fall backwards,” Dr. Fleisher said. “It’s almost like they are just standing still and they are kind of pushed backwards.” Dr. Behzad Elahi is a neurologist at UChicago Medicine. He is not working on Rev. Jackson’s case, but described the disease as part of the same family as Parkinson’s, but is more rare and more advanced, and it affects chewing, swallowing and balance. It is a disease where those closest to the patient must keep close watch. “Less than 10% of those with Parkinsonism with or Parkinson disease will be diagnosed with PSP,” Dr. Elahi said. “The family is everything. Currently, we don’t have a cure for the disease. We have some medication that can help with some symptoms, but we currently don’t have any cure.” Progressive supranuclear palsy is a rare brain disease that affects walking, balance, eye movements and swallowing, according to the Mayo Clinic. PSP is also known as Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome. The cause of PSP isn’t known, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms come from the damage of brain cells. The only proven risk factor for progressive supranuclear palsy is age, according to the Mayo Clinic. The video in the player above is from a previous report.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/rev-jesse-jackson-health-civil-rights-activist-martin-luther-king-jrs-protg-discharged-chicagos-northwestern-hospital/18204977/