‘It’s hugely complex’: the scientists working to defeat Parkinson’s

Research into dopamine-producing cells and rogue proteins among efforts to find far-reaching treatment

It was while watching University Challenge that the doctor first suspected something wrong with Jeremy Paxman. Normally highly animated, the TV presenter was less effusive and exuberant than usual. He had acquired what specialists in the field call the Parkinson's mask".

Paxman was formally diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in hospital after he collapsed while walking his dog and found himself in hospital. There, Paxman recalled in an ITV documentary, the doctor walked in and said: I think you've got Parkinson's". For Paxman, at least, the news came out of the blue.