FOR Mark Brown, being stared at is nothing unusual.
Sometimes, people look at him strangely. Other times, they assume he is drunk.
Then there are those awkward occasions when someone decides to tut at him or tell him to hurry up when he reaches the front of a queue.
It’s the sort of thing you could do without when you’re battling an illness that is beyond your control.
Sadly, however, it is also the sort of experience that people living with Parkinson’s disease often have to contend with.
The condition is a progressive nervous system disorder which affects movement. Around 12,500 people in Scotland have it, equivalent to around one in every 375 adults, making it the second most prevalent neuroprogressive condition after Alzheimer’s.
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And yet, despite its prevalence, the majority of people know very little about what the disease is, what symptoms it can lead to and how different the experience can be for each individual facing it.
Mark, from Houston, has been living with Parkinson’s for seven years and has experienced people making assumptions about his condition on many occasions.
“I often become aware of people looking at me if I’m between medications and I start getting a tremor,” he told The Gazette.
“I will see their eyesight switch to my arm because they are seeing it. I don’t think they mean it.
“I do often make a point of saying I have it [Parkinson’s] because I am a firm believer of being upfront.
“I have experienced sales assistants at checkouts tutting because I am trying to get my wallet out of my pocket.
“My wife has to help me do up buttons on my shirt. These are the most frustrating things.
“I usually need help with my seatbelt and I struggle with things like getting change out of my pocket. It’s things which involve any dexterity really.”
Mark, 58, was working as a store manager for supermarket giant Tesco when he started to feel something was wrong with his body.
First, the dad-of-two felt his shoulder go when he was trying to get an exercise bike off a top shelf for his daughter.
Next, his index finger started twitching by itself. His writing became poor and he knew something wasn’t right.
After around 18 months of undergoing various tests and scans, he was eventually given a diagnosis of Parkinson’s.
It meant he quickly had to make changes in his life, as well as battle for a while with getting his medication correct.
Mark, who lives with his wife Linda and is dad to daughters Sarah and Hayley, said: “It did come as a shock but, in some ways, it was also a blessing, as it confirmed that there was something wrong and they knew what it was.
“We did have to make quite a lot of changes after that. I resigned from my job and we downsized the house. This was for my health and wellbeing and they were not easy decisions to make.
“At that time, both of my daughters were still at home and I have to say that, if it was not for them and my wife, I would not have been able to get through and come out the other side in the way that I did.
“We went through getting medication right, as everyone has different symptoms. No-one is the same. That took a while.”
Mark’s main symptom is lack of movement in his right arm and hand. Sometimes, his mood can be affected.
However, there are around 40 different symptoms someone with Parkinson’s can experience.
Mark is keen to raise awareness of the reality of living with the condition.
After working on a part-time basis with Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce, he retired and began chairing the Parkinson’s UK Glasgow Young Onset Group, which stages monthly meetings in the city.
He has also got behind the recently-launched ‘Parkinson’s Is’ campaign, which aims to highlight that the condition is much more than just a tremor and also demonstrate how people with it do not let it hold them back.
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“People are a bit confused as to what it is,” said Mark. “They don’t know how it affects people in different ways. Some people I know have had to shout for help and hang onto a lamppost.
“I feel people are more aware of cancer or strokes. I feel we are getting there but this Parkinsons Is campaign could be a big step forward.”
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