Basnight has motion disorder

RALEIGH -- State Senate leader Marc Basnight is suffering from what he described as a motion disorder affecting his balance, according to a report today by The Insider, a political newsletter.

Basnight said on Tuesday that he began noticing symptoms, mainly a loss of balance, shortly after the death of his wife, Sandy, in 2007, The Insider reported. The condition is not life-threatening but isn't likely to go away, Basnight told the e-mail publication.

"(The doctors) said, just go live your life," Basnight said.

The Manteo Democrat has fallen twice, once at Raleigh's Crabtree Valley Mall, where he bruised his chin and cheek. He said he must concentrate when walking and experiences feelings of vertigo when walking down steps.

The condition also causes him to speak a little slower. "Maybe I think a little more when I speak," Basnight joked.