Parkinson's disease was named after Scottish physician James Parkinson, who published a description of the condition, An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, in 1817. Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological condition that affects more than 30 000 people in Australia (it is the second most common degenerative neurological condition after Alzheimer's disease). Over the last decade, it's been given an especially high profile by celebrities who've been affected by it, like Michael J. Fox, Katherine Hepburn, Muhammad Ali, and Pope John Paul.

Men and women alike are affected. The frequency of the disease is considerably higher in the over-50 age group, even though there is an alarming increase of patients of younger age. One in 10 of people diagnosed are under 40.

There are a number of signs and symptoms related to Parkinson's disease. Sufferers most commonly experience fatigue, shaking or trembling and changes in handwriting, voice and gait during the early stages...