Evangelist Graham has Parkinson's disease

Evangelist Billy Graham has been suffering the early stages of Parkinson's disease for three years, but the disease has produced only mild tremors and some difficulty in walking, his spokesman said Thursday.

Graham, 73, has had some difficulty writing and descending stairs without railings because of the nervous system disorder, Larry Ross said in a statement issued through the Minneapolis-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

"Both symptoms improved significantly with a modest amount of medication," Ross said. "Otherwise, he is in excellent health and will continue his normal activities, such as crusades and writing, for the foreseeable future.

"His doctors expect him to live a normal life, with a reduction in schedule _ which they were urging him to reduce long before he discovered he had the beginnings of Parkinson's."

Graham could not be reached for comment.

Ross said Graham is determined to give his crusades first priority. He is scheduled to hold them in Portland, Ore., in September; in Moscow in October; and in Germany in March.