'I had Parkinson's disease at 19'

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When John Crossley-Stanbury noticed a tremor in his little finger he ignored it.

At 19 he was a fit young man and he assumed the problem was simply a trapped nerve. Two years later he went to see his GP who referred him to a neurologist. He got reassuring news. The specialist was convinced there was a benign reason for his problem. But two years later, after a barrage of tests, he was told that he had Parkinson's Disease - an incurable and progressive neurological condition. 

'Too young'

People with the condition have a shortage of the brain chemical dopamine, which controls connections between nerve cells, leading to symptoms such as tremors. "My neurologist, quite rightly tested first for everything else it could possibly be," said the 26-year-old from Barnsley, South Yorkshire. "But I think my age slowed down the diagnostic process. Everyone thinks it is an old person's disease, but it does affect young people. 

"I was shocked by the diagnosis, but had begun to think it was something serious," he said. John, who now has trouble walking and has suffered from depression and poor sleep, said it was important that people are also told there is hope. "When they told me it was progressive and would get worse it was frightening. And to make it worse I'd done my own research on the internet and the only cases I could find were in the later stages.