Essential Tremor — A few factual pointers
Essential tremor is a nervous system disorder (neurological disorder) that causes a rhythmic shaking.
Essential tremor can affect almost any part of your body, but the trembling occurs most often in your hands — especially when you try to do simple tasks, such as drinking from a glass, tying shoelaces, writing or shaving. Essential tremor may also affect your head, voice, arms or legs. Although usually not a dangerous condition, essential tremor worsens over time and can be severe in some people. It isn’t caused by other diseases, although it’s sometimes confused with Parkinson’s disease. Essential tremor can occur at any age but is most common in people age 40 and older. (Mayo Clinic 2013)
Causes of ET
Genetics is responsible for causing ET in half of all people with the condition. A child born to a parent with ET will have up to a 50% chance of inheriting the responsible gene, but may never actually experience symptoms. Although ET is more common in the elderly — and symptoms become more pronounced with age — it is not a part of the natural aging process.
Diagnosis
A doctor can usually diagnose essential tremor based on reported symptoms and a complete neurological exam. There is no specific blood, urine, or other test used to diagnose ET. As part of the exam, your health care provider may consider other causes of tremor, such as thyroid disease, excessive caffeine intake, or medication side effects. (WebMD 2014)
During a physical exam a doctor can visually determine whether the tremor occurs primarily during action or at rest. The doctor will also check for tremor symmetry, any sensory loss, weakness or muscle atrophy, or decreased reflexes. A detailed family history may indicate if the tremor is inherited. Blood or urine tests can detect thyroid malfunction, other metabolic causes, and abnormal levels of certain chemicals that can cause tremor. These tests may also help to identify contributing causes, such as drug interaction, chronic alcoholism, or another condition or disease. Diagnostic imaging using computerized tomography or magnetic resonance imaging may help determine if the tremor is the result of a structural defect or degeneration of the brain.
The doctor will perform a neurological exam to assess nerve function and motor and sensory skills. The tests are designed to determine any functional limitations, such as difficulty with handwriting or the ability to hold a utensil or cup. The individual may be asked to place a finger on the tip of her or his nose, draw a spiral, or perform other tasks or exercises.
The doctor may order an electromyogram to diagnose muscle or nerve problems. This test measures involuntary muscle activity and muscle response to nerve stimulation.
Patient Prevalence
There are 220 Million People effected by Essential Tremor in the world. (Lift Labs 18)
According to another survey about 10 million people suffer from ET in America alone (Remillard 2011) and worldwide this number is more than 220 million so the difference can easily be estimated between the prevalence of the two diseases. The biggest problem attached with ET is that it is misdiagnosed due to which only 8% of the people suffering from ET are prescribed with medicine and out of all the patients taking medication hardly anyone is satisfied, to date no medication has been specifically made for curing ET and the medications that are present are not very effective. (Remillard 2011) One thing which is generally confused is that Parkinson’s is very different from ET and yet another variation of this disease is dystonia but the main difference lies that dystonia is relatively irregular and it is affected by the position of the body part which is effected from the disease, but studies show that there is a relation between ET and Parkinson’s and ET and dystonia but differentiating between these is still a big problem for doctors. (Essential Tremor (ET) 2015)
ET is a hereditary disease and runs through generations of families effecting the young and the old. There are two types of symptoms which are generally prevalent among tremor patients, one is action tremor which means tremor experienced while doing an action such as writing and the other is postural tremor which means holding a specific posture like extending your arm. But these are very general symptoms and can’t help differentiate ET from other similar diseases. (About Essential Tremor 2014)
A company by the name of lift labs is currently working on a device by the name of lift ware to help people suffering from ET and their device claims to reduce the tremors by 70%. (Lift Labs Launches, Raises Seed Round for Anti-Tremor Technology 2013) So with increased awareness companies are now working day in day out to come up with devices which can accurately help detect and cure ET and improve their lifestyles.
Bibliography
1. About Essential Tremor. 04 29, 2014. http://www.medtronic.com/patients/essential-tremor/.
2. Essential Tremor (ET). 12 3, 2015. https://www.bcm.edu/healthcare/care-centers/parkinsons/conditions/essential-tremor.
3. “Lift Labs Launches, Raises Seed Round for Anti-Tremor Technology.” prweb. December 3, 2013. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/9/prweb11129334.htm.
4. Louis, Elan D, and Julián Benito León. “Essential tremor: emerging views of a common disorder.” Nature Clinical Practice Neurology, 2006: 666–678.
5. Remillard, Stephens. “Essential Facts about Essential Tremor.” Neurology Now, 2011: p 21–23,27.
6. Statistics on Parkinsons. http://www.pdf.org/en/parkinson_statistics.
7. WebMD. WebMD The Brain and Essential Tremor. MD Neil Lava. Sept. 20, 2014. http://www.webmd.com/brain/essential-tremor-basics.