Billy Connolly has had a bad year – first a cancer diagnosis then, within 24 hours, he is told he has Parkinson’s Disease.

I am pretty sure my grandfather has Parkinson’s too. He is too stubborn to get tested but I have seen him struggle to pick up his cup of tea. He wakes before the birds and is unable to get back to sleep, and who knows whether his increasing temper is a result of becoming a grumpy old man or a drop in dopamine in his brain that is the hallmark of Parkinson’s.

Dopamine is the Rolling Stone of brain chemicals – it is a hormone and a neurotransmitter, sending signals along nerve pathways. Dopamine is involved in kick-starting many brain processes including desire and pleasure, love, lust and addiction. However, dopamine isn’t all sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, it is also heavily involved in movement. It moves signals from one neurone to the next, acting like the ticket that gets you out of the parking lot – without it you are stuck behind the barrier unable to move on.

In Parkinson’s patients the cells that produce dopamine, in part of the brain called the basal ganglia, die. This results in movement that is like a scratched record. Frequently getting stuck, stuttering and shaking. The reasons these important cells die is not certain. Certain genes have been shown to be more common in patients with Parkinson’s and studies have linked some pesticides to a higher incidence of Parkinson’s.

There is also the possibility that because Parkinson’s is overwhelmingly more common in people over 60, it might be related to a normal process of ageing.

Researchers in Oxford have found that manipulation of beta brain waves can have a positive impact on Parkinson’s Disease. Prof John Stein, Emeritus Professor of Physiology at the University of Oxford, and his team are using deep-brain stimulation to check out the effects of beta waves on Parkinson’s symptoms. They have found that a “beta-straight jacket” effect, where beta waves suppress movement, may be contributing to Parkinson’s symptoms.

Alongside this work, Prof Stein is also making links between the processing of information through the eye in dyslexia and Parkinson’s Disease. It seems that light through the eye stimulates a particular type of cell in the retina that triggers a cascade of reactions that is disrupted in both dyslexia and Parkinson’s.

They have found that using tinted lenses, like those used to help dyslexic children read, help reduce involuntary movement and shaking in Parkinson’s patients. This is a staggeringly simple and cheap way to help reduce the negative impact of the shakes.

None of these solutions are a cure but if Parkinson’s Disease is in fact a degenerative disease, that is a normal part of ageing, then we need to find more solutions to help people live as normally and happily as possible. If looking through the world through tinted lenses makes the world a rosier place then I am happy to work the glasses!