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James Parkinson, a British physician, 1st discovered Parkinson’s Disease in 1817 in a paper entitled "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy" which described the first symptoms of the disease.. Parkinson’s disease today is the most common neurological disease of high age. It is degenerative disorder of the nervous system that usually occurs in middle or later life and has a progressive, prolonged course. Many people suffer from this disease, my grandfather for one, god rest his sole, had a bad case of PD just before his death, also pro boxer Muhammad Ali, TV star Michael J Fox, pope john Paul and Yassar Arafat also suffer from PD. Parkinson's disease (PD) is the result of the loss of dopamine producing brain cells. Dopamine is a chemical messenger responsible for transmitting signals within the brain. Parkinson's disease occurs when certain nerve cells, or neurons, die or become impaired resulting in the loss of dopamine in the brain. This then leaves sufferers unable to direct or control their movement in a normal manner. When the nerve cells die they no longer produce and send dopamine so the signal to move doesn’t get through to the brain. Acetylcholine, another chemical in the brain is controlled by dopamine. When the dopamine levels are low there is too much acetylcholine causing muscle stiffness and tremors which many PD sufferers experience?
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