Parkinsonism in poets and writers.

Parkinson disease is a severe degenerative disease, which is bewildering for its array of clinical features. Writers for the past five centuries have described the associated symptoms. Before the nineteenth century, Miguel de Cervantes wrote Don Quixote de la Mancha and William Shakespeare wrote several tragedies dealing with neurological manifestations that are characteristic of Parkinson disease. From the nineteenth century onward, writers including Charles Dickens, Samuel Beckett, Galway Kinnell, and Harold Pinter among others have showcased in their works classic manifestations of Parkinson disease. This literary attention has led to a greater awareness on the part of the general public regarding this disease and, in turn, has opened the doors to a better understanding of and a better respect for the patients affected by this disease.