Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common progressive neurological condition, due to the death of dopamine cells in the brain, commonly resulting in symptoms of rest tremor, rigidity and Bradykinesia, it is age related and so with the aging population it will become even more common in the future. Current statistics show that each year 17 per 100,000 of the population will develop PD, this is compared with only 4 per 100,000 new cases per year with multiple sclerosis (MS) (Neurological Alliance 2003). After Alzheimer’s, PD is the most common neurological degenerative condition.
 

Parkinson's disease was first defined by James Parkinson in 1817 in London, this was through his "Essay of the Shaking Palsy", this defined Parkinson's Disease as: “an .involuntary tremulous motion, with lessened muscular power, in parts not found in action…… with a propensity to bend from the trunk forward, …. The senses and intellect being uninjured”.