Ozzy Osbourne: What is Parkinson's disease?
Parkinson's is a progressive neurological condition caused by the death of nerve cells in the brain that create the chemical dopamine.
– What are the symptoms?
People begin to develop symptoms of Parkinson's when the brain is no longer able to make enough dopamine to adequately control movement.
The three main symptoms are tremor (shaking), slowness of movement and rigidity (muscle stiffness).
Subtle changes in a person's walking pattern could be an early sign of Parkinson's disease.
Some people develop very small handwriting, a loss in their sense of smell, nerve pain or insomnia.
Symptoms usually develop slowly over several years.
– Can it be treated?
There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease.
Treatments include drugs such as levodopa, dopamine agonists and monoamine oxidase-B inhibitors.
Levodopa is absorbed by the nerve cells in the brain and turned into dopamine.
Increasing the levels of dopamine in this way usually cuts down problems with movement.
Other therapies include physiotherapy and, in some cases, surgery.
– What does Parkinson's UK say?
Chief executive Caroline Rassell said: 'News of Ozzy Osbourne's death, so soon after his celebratory homecoming show, will come as a shock to so many.
'By speaking openly about both his diagnosis and life with Parkinson's, Ozzy and all his family helped so many families in the same situation.
'They normalised tough conversations and made others feel less alone with a condition that's on the rise and affecting more people every day.
'All of our heartfelt thoughts are with his family, friends and fans worldwide. His memory and the impact he left on the world will live on in all of them.'
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Daily Mirror
2 days ago
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Universal Credit changes 'may see lower payments for people with six conditions'
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Scottish Sun
3 days ago
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Daily Mail
4 days ago
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Major study finds link between bad habit practiced by 70million Americans and more than 170 diseases
People who repeatedly suffer from poor sleeping habits could be at greater risk of more than 170 diseases, ranging from gangrene to dementia, a groundbreaking new study suggests. The research, led by teams from Peking University and the Army Medical University in China, analyzed objective sleep data from 88,460 adults who took part in a nationwide survey run by the UK Biobank platform. The participants answered over 160 questions about their sleeping habits, including their ability to fall to sleep, their hours of sleep per night, their quality of sleep and associated lifestyle and behaviors. From an in-depth analysis of the results, the researchers found significant associations between various sleep traits and 172 diseases. The included participants were on average 62 years old, and 43 percent were males. 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