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Parkinson's is potentially known as idiopathic Parkinson's disease because there is no known cause. However, I think what a lot of people will be given is a diagnosis of Parkinsonism first. And Parkinsonism is an umbrella term, it's an umbrella term used to describe the signs and symptoms associated with Parkinson's, but there are other conditions that will also demonstrate Parkinsonisms. Now, these include things that are also known as your Parkinson-plus syndromes. But to cut that down, actually it's idiopathic Parkinson's disease, multi-system atrophy or MSA, PSP or progressive supranuclear palsy, LBD, Lewy body dementia, vascular, that's your atherosclerotic cause, or also drug-induced. There are other ones as well that can come under and actually produce Parkinsonisms, but those sorts of diagnoses have to be considered when actually trying to determine a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.

Depending on the problem that somebody has will depend, obviously, on what I would suggest they could try. If somebody has nausea, then maybe the use of ginger is very good for settling stomachs. That could be ginger biscuits or gingerbread, ginger cake. I have had a few patients ask me whether ginger wine counts, although I'm not really quite sure of that one. The other one is for things like rolling over in bed. I have had patients, older patients as well, take quite nicely to the use of silk sheets, which obviously allows them to roll over or slide easier when they're in bed and to get out of bed, that's been quite a good one. There was a gent who also managed to get himself a lamp, a touch lamp, which didn't have a switch to it, you just touched the lampshade and that actually switched the lamp on and off. There are also things like the use of electric toothbrushes as opposed to trying to... The maintained motion of a normal toothbrush, electric toothbrush takes that difficulty away. Every now and then a fence comes up in front of you, the idea is not to try and jump the fence or push through the fence because you'll hurt yourself, the idea is to go around the fence. So it's always about trying to find ways around things as opposed to trying to do them how you normally would have done them.

I think people generally think it might affect your mental health, which obviously it can in some cases, but it doesn't generally. And also they think that you shake all the time and that's a very common misconception. If they see somebody shaking, they've obviously got Parkinson's.

If you tell people and explain what it is, what symptoms you have got, perhaps people will be more aware and more tolerant towards this because I tend to fall over when I... If I may, I tend to... Sometimes I will fall over and, "Oh, what has she been doing?" sort of thing. They do not give you a chance, they judge you before they know the story. So that's what I find anyway, but most people just get the odd one or two.

Well, I just like other people to get a greater understanding and just appreciate that there are all sorts of differences in the world and you have to be aware of them because then you can accommodate people.

It's no good being miserable because nobody wants to know you if you are miserable, so you have gotta be upbeat about it. There is other people living with other things and just put up with it. So we get past, get by it.

Well, obviously, there are a lot of neurological conditions about, but I think people need to be aware and not just assume that you are drunk because you are staggering on the road or whatever. And I think more knowledge for everybody is a good thing.

Well, I would like for people to realize that there is help out there for people and also just to know how other people... Just different things for different people. I shake and I fall over, other people freeze. You can be walking along and just all of a sudden stop and then somebody behind them knocks into them. But the people have gotta be aware of this and all the different things, not one person's the same, everybody's different, everybody's got a different symptom.