I was asked how, at an age of 79, I’d managed to improve debilitating Parkinsonism symptoms. Dopamine (Levodopa) helped somewhat but accentuated my balance and fatigue, so I’ve gradually reduced then stopped taking it. So, what else did I do?

This was my response:

• Tai chi type exercises (at home not in classes and based on web research).

• Tai chi certainly improves balance, but so does general posture. Falling over hurts.  To counter this, I try to maintain: head erect, shoulders back, body erect and balanced - not to the extent of being stiff and stressed though.

I heard a BBC radio science program talking about eyesight's 'Frame Rate' - equivalent to video frame rate. This is speed of vision. Average eyesight speed is the equivalent of 40 - 60 fps (frames per second). It can drop off significantly with fatigue. I realised that when I've been struggling to stay upright, my eyes were wandering all over the place. So, my solution is to stop whatever I'm doing for a faction of a second, then focus on a single point. This immediately corrects it.

 I also noticed that, using this technique, I can manage to balance on one leg for at least one minute. I couldn’t achieve 10 seconds previously.

• Relax face muscles, but how on earth can you do this?

  • Lie on the floor. Starting with one calf muscle – fully tense it then relax it and repeat a few times. Gradually do this with every muscle in your body until you can relax totally at will.

  • Face, head, neck and shoulder muscles are the most difficult. There's no right way, so I start with mouth + cheeks, then over a week or so extend to tongue, forehead and neck muscles. You won't believe how refreshing this is until you try it. No matter how stressful the situation it always improves it.