Nairobi, July 1 -- Qn: "How can one limit the effects of Parkinson's disease? My grandfather has just been diagnosed with the condition."
In 1817, an English physician by the name James Parkinson wrote an essay on the "Shaking Palsy". The disease we now call by his name is characterised by tremor, rigidity and stiffness. This is due to the damage of nerves in the brain in a part known by the rather fancy name, substantia nigra or black bodies. When cells in this part of the body begin to malfunction, or die, (a process known as neurodegenaration) then the disease that is said to have afflicted your grandfather is said to have set in.
There is no known cure for this disease but a number of relatively inexpensive treatments are available to...