Parkinson's disease was first formally described in modern times by a London physician named James Parkinson (1755-1824).

In 1817 he published his essay detailing Parkinson's Disease titled "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy" :

Web version : http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cg.../full/14/2/223
PDF version :
James Parkinson : http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/392.html
History of Parkinson's Disease :

Wilhelm von Humboldt is the first named man known to have Parkinson's Disease.

Soon after James Parkinson first described Parkinson's Disease, Wilhelm von Humboldt detailed his symptoms in his letters :

Neurology [1995] 45 (3 Part 1) : 565-568 (Horowski R, Horowski L, Vogel S, Poewe W, Kielhorn FW.)

An essay on Wilhelm von Humboldt and the shaking palsy: first comprehensive description of Parkinson's disease by a patient.

James Parkinson first described what is now known as Parkinson's disease in his essay in 1817 on the shaking palsy, but the disease became well-known to neurologists only in the second half of the 19th century. In his letters from 1828 until his death in 1835, Wilhelm von Humboldt, a well-known German academic reformer, humanist scholar, and statesman, precisely described the manifestations of this disease. These included resting tremor and especially problems in writing, called by him "a special clumsiness" that he attributed to a disturbance in executing rapid complex movements. In addition to lucidly describing akinesia, he was also the first to describe micrographia. He furthermore noticed his typical parkinsonian posture and, in all probability, his rigidity as "internal tremor not visible by others which causes a distortion of the continuity of my movements." He insisted, however, that he was suffering not from a disease but just from accelerated aging related to the death of his wife. His description of the disease is more complete than the observations and definition by James Parkinson; his attitude toward his disease illustrates why it was not readily accepted as a disease in itself but might have been considered an extreme variant of aging instead.

Wilhelm von Humboldt : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_von_Humboldt

It was interesting that he linked it to his wife's death. So many of us have seemed to have stressors just prior to first symptoms. In my case it was the flu.

Consider putting this information in to the sticky "Useful Sites & Resources"

I have recently been paying more attention to the comings and goings of my tremors...and I seem to be able to put them into 3 catagories: The first and worst I call "Sugar shakes". They are the most intense and occur when my glucose is higher than it should be usually related to some high GI food, or a glycemic load thats too high. The second type is my stress tremor, when I do everything right, but have to deal with something unpleasant..ie: this morning I had a dental appointment.
The third and most benign of my tremors is my idiopathic PD tremor. a sub-catagory of this would be related to fatigue. Dyskinesia seems to be the wicked step sister of "sugar shakes" and is really nasty if it gets into the "yellow devils" (aka reg sinemet). Anyone else notice any subtle differences in their not so subtle symptoms?

...Rosebud. For myself, it is not so much tremor that varies but the "Offs" or "Freezes". II thought about it and see similarities to your triggers even though the symptoms differ.

1) Dietary triggers- Low blood sugar when I forget to eat. Drop in blood pressure when I eat too much.

2) Stress triggers- Overstimulation or too many things to track. Nervous stress such as performance or social. Frustration when it just won't. Speed pressure when it just has to be there... Excitement.

3) Energy triggers- Fatigue or just worn out. Exertion beyond norm.

4) Cyclic triggers- For no apparent reason. Going into evening "off" and, without any more meds, switch back "on" and up until midnight because I don't want to waste it.

I just got a copy of "Essay" and it's interesting how accurate he was based on only a handful of patients. Wish my stupid neuros would read it. Might actually learn something...

The mystery of the disappearing meds....now your "on" -now your "0ff", and then later for no logical reason "on" reappears! Yes it happens to me too. Sometimes it will switch on in the middle of the night. I'm like you, I'll stay up as long as my go button is working.

This is another good one so let's move it to its own space?

You would think,wouldn`t you that your meds would give you a set amount of time to be "on" and that you would be able to follow a pattern.But I have noticed too,[and posted about this before...could have been on braintalk 1] that I am puzzled because;
When I wake up in a morning,it is as if my brain hasn`t realised it has PD.For a short while I function normally..before taking even one tablet.I can walk normally,there are no tremors and it is as if my brain has not fully woken up. As if it is sleepy and then all of a sudden the realisation hits it that HEY...THIS BRAIN IS MEANT TO HAVE PD SO WE BETTER GET THE BAD MOVES GOING HERE...AND WALLOP....I` am back dragging my leg and struggling to pour milk.
Do you know what I mean?
Is it possible for the brain to fool itself? Ok Dumb question but it`s ME we are talking to here.

I just reckoned that if our brains are in this semi fuzzy state first thing in a morning.......and as a result we can operate normally...can`t some bright spark come up with a way to keep it in this semi fuzzy state then it would fool itself that there was no PD and we would all be happy.

NO? Too simple?
OK .Back to the drawing board...but it`s strange don`t you think?