Essential Tremor

 Essential Tremor

Intro/definition: 

An essential tremor (ET) is an neurological disorder. It is commonly characterized as an uncontrollable shaking that occurs in various body parts, such as the head, chin, hands, arms, and also presents with a shaking voice due to affected vocal cords. An (ET) is different from a resting tremor, which is associated with Parkinson’s, and is commonly classified as an action tremor (Abboud, 2011).

Pathology: 

The likelihood of acquiring an ET has been shown to increase with age, in different ethnicities, and in persons with a family history of an ET. The risk of acquiring an ET has been shown to be more prevalent in older populations. An increased risk has also been found in Caucasians opposed to African-American populations.
Genetic factors have been linked to increased prevalence of ET with some studies suggesting potential linkages identified at the 3q13 and 2p22 chromosomes. However, there is a large discrepancy if genetic factors are a cause of ET, since other studies found only a moderate link (60-63%) in monozygotic twins and a low link (27-42%) in dizygotic twins. This is indicative that environmental factors likely play a role in the prevalence of ET's. A link in β-carboline alkaloids (harmine and harmane) has been found in subjects with ET, since high concentrations of β-carboline alkaloids were found in their blood.
β-carboline alkaloids are found in high meat diets and increased meat consumption has been linked with prevelance in persons with ET. An increased concentration of lead was also found in subjects with ET's. These environmental factors increase the risk for developing an ET, and the risk of aquring an ET increases when gentetics, age, and ethnicity of the person favourable ET development (Louis, 2001).

Epidemiology: 

Assessment/Diagnosis:

Clinical presentation:

Treatment: 

References:

<u</u>Louis, D.E., Essential tremor. (2001). The New England Journal of Medicine. 345:887-891.

Abboud, H., Ahmed, A., Fernandez, HH. (2011). Essential tremor: choosing the right management plan for your patient. Cleve Clin J Med. 78(12):821-8.
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