Parkinson's: condition affects one in 500

ABOUT 10,000 people in Scotland have Parkinson's disease.

Some people who take dopamine agonists have problems controlling compulsive or impulsive behaviour. It can also affect people taking other Parkinson's drugs, in particular levodopa.

Behaviour can be expressed in different ways, including addictive gambling, binge eating and hypersexuality.

Parkinson's is a progressive neurological condition, and symptoms usually begin slowly. One in every 500 people has it, which is about 120,000 in the UK. Sufferers include MSP Margo MacDonald and football's Paul Sturrock, below.

Parkinson's is most common in people aged 50 or over. People with the condition lack a chemical called dopamine, related to the death of nerve cells in their brain. There is currently no cure or any explanation for why people get it.

The main symptoms are body tremors, rigidity and slowness of movement as well as tiredness, pain, depression and constipation.