Parkinson’s disease was first described in the early 1800s when Dr James Parkinson wrote a paper on what he called ‘the Shaking Palsy’. Surprisingly Dr Parkinson managed to relate the symptoms to a fault in the brain however at the time he knew nothing of the true cause. Thankfully much has been learnt about the disease since then and there are now a number of effective treatments to slow down its progress.

Parkinson’s Disease is a slowly progressive disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement, muscle control and balance. Symptoms include tremors, slowed movement and postural instability. Other features include rigidity, flexed posture, freezing phenomenon and loss of postural reflexes. Patients can experience depression, sleep disturbances, dizziness and problems with speech, swallowing and sexual functioning.