A ground-breaking experiment partly conducted in the Nort-East has brought dramatic improvements for those suffering from Parkinson's disease. Health Editor Barry Nelson finds out more.

MOTHER-of-six Audrey Tonks was intrigued when she was asked to take part in ground-breaking research. A sufferer from Parkinson's disease for 12 years, Mrs Tonks was keen to try anything which might improve her mobility.

In common with many Parkinson's disease sufferers, Mrs Tonks, 71, who lives in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, found that everyday movements, like getting up from the table after a meal, sometimes came to a shuddering halt as her muscles 'froze.' This is because Parkinson's disease interferes with signals sent from the brain to the body.

In many cases, patients begin but fail to complete a sequence of movements. This 'freezing' of normal motion can cause distress and greatly reduce mobility.

Suspicions that there might be a technological way to get around the problem led to a revolutionary research project involving Northumbria University in the North-East, the Katholeike Universiteit in Belgium and the Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre in Amsterdam, Holland.

Known as the Rescue Project and backed by £1.6m of funding from the European Commission, the scheme appears to have found a new rehabilitation technique to help improve the mobility of people with Parkinson's disease.

A total of 150 patients took part in the trial - 50 in each centre. All of them were under 80 and experiencing walking difficulties caused by Parkinson's disease.

Research published this week suggests that many patients with this neuro-degenerative disorder can benefit from being 'prompted', either by lights, sounds or vibrations, to complete a sequence of movements.

There are hopes that this new approach can complement existing drug and surgical therapies to help patients lead as active and independent a life as possible.

Mrs Tonks, who has six grandchildren, says she enjoyed working with physiotherapists in her own home. As one of the patients from the North-East taking part in the international project, she wore a vibrating 'cueing' device on her wrist, and to her amazement, she found it made a real difference to her mobility. "It was excellent. One of the most difficult aspects of Parkinson's disease is the fact that you freeze when you are in the process of a movement. The cueing device really helped to stop this and I benefited enormously from the help," says Mrs Tonks.

"The physiotherapists worked closely with me, assessing my walking and encouraging me to side step and practise doing everyday movements such as swinging my legs under the table and getting back up again. The difference I noticed during the treatment was excellent and I am delighted to hear from other patients that they have enjoyed the same benefits."

The results of the research were acclaimed when they were presented to experts at an international conference in Amsterdam and to therapists and medical experts at a conference in Newcastle.

Professor Meg Morris, a world authority on Parkinson's disease at Le Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, says: "There was unanimous agreement amongst the experts that this was an excellent and ambitious programme... the researchers have delivered the goods and it has put them centre stage internationally."

Researchers involved in the Rescue Project are now preparing practical guidelines to be issued to therapists working with Parkinson's disease patients. Dr Lynn Rochester, the project's principal scientist in Newcastle, says the walking capability of patients was assessed before the three week programme began and then checked at regular intervals. "Our research clearly shows that patients found the cueing intervention helped improve their walking, balance and general feeling of well-being. Treatment effects reduced when treatment stopped, pointing to the need for supplementary therapy with permanent cueing devices and follow-up therapy," she says