Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition that develops when nerve cells in the brain that produce the chemical dopamine stop working properly and then die. Symptoms including tremors, slowness of movement and rigidity start to appear when the brain can’t make enough dopamine to control movement properly.
The causes of Parkinson’s are unknown, but researchers believe a combination of environmental and genetic factors cause the dopamine-producing nerve cells to die. The number of people diagnosed in the UK is approximately 145,000, or one in 500, and that figure rises to about one in 100 among the over-60s.
