Essential Tremor
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Links
Movement Disorders Unit
This is the homepage of the Movement Disorders Unit that offers links to the specific diseases, as well as to Medical Center doctors and to related conditions.
Essential Tremor Index
This is the Essential Tremor Index from the Medical Center that includes links for information on tremor, dystonia and dyskinesia, as well as the latest treatments and support groups.
Coping with Essential Tremor
This is the homepage of the International Tremor Foundation that offers information on physicians, research, support and numerous links to related sites.
NINDS
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke offers a patient guide to disorders that are listed on this Web page alphabetically under the heading of publications. Information on Parkinson’s, tremor and dystonias is available in the alphabetical directory. This Web site also has information for professionals. |
Definition
Essential tremor is a progressive neurological disorder and the most common of the movement disorders.
The suspected cause is the abnormal activity of brain cells.
About 1 million people in the United States suffer from essential tremor with the average age of onset about 45. About 30 percent of people with essential tremor have a family member with the symptoms. It can affect people of all ages.
Symptoms
Tremor is the only symptom and typically occurs in the limbs, head, trunk or voice. Both sides of the body are affected. Stress or anxiety can make the tremor worse.
Usually, there is a difference between the tremor of a Parkinson’s disease patient and that of an essential tremor patient. In Parkinson’s, the tremor may be reduced in the afflicted body part when it is in use. With essential tremor, the tremor may increase.
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Treatment of Movement Disorders
Medication is often prescribed to help restore the proper balance of chemicals in the body in people who have movement disorders.
The main goal of treatment is to keep movements as normal as possible with the smallest amount of medication, which can cause side effects.
Cases that do not respond to medication may require surgery, often aimed at interrupting abnormal movements. Various available procedures may be decided during the operation at which time several different targets can be tested in the hope of optimizing the benefit.
One possibility is pallidotomy, a computer-assisted neurosurgery, aimed at reducing tremor, rigidity and other symptoms by destroying the areas of the brain that caused these symptoms.
Another is thalamotomy, which involves making a lesion in the thalmus, the area of the brain that is the source of tremor. Both procedures are irreversible and may have permanent side effects, as well.
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In 1997, stereotactic insertion of a deep brain stimulator into the thalmus was introduced as a procedure for treating Parkinson’s and essential tremor. The advantage of this type of operation is that instead of destroying overactive cells that cause the symptoms, it temporarily disables them by firing rapid pulses of electricity between four electrodes at the tip of the lead.
The lead is permanently implanted and connected to a pacemaker controller installed beneath the skin of the chest.
An alternative to making a lesion with an electrode is to use highly focused radiation, making no need for an incision.
Two types of devices can be used to deliver stereotactic radiosurgery, namely the Gamma Knife and the LINAC-Scalpel. Lesioning procedures tend to be preferred by and for younger patients because they do not have to worry about numerous battery changes or hardware in the body. Also, brains of younger people seem to have more plasticity and less chance of a new neurologic deficit.
With tardive dyskinesia, the first step of treatment may be to discontinue or alter the neuroleptic drug.
In the cases of dystonia and dyskinesia, other treatments such as injections of botulinum toxin may be the most desirable therapy. The drug weakens certain muscles and lasts several months.
Therapies may be necessary to help patients with language and movement.
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Research of Movement Disorders
Research aimed at finding the sources of movement disorders and improved treatments and therapies fall into many categories.
One method under investigation includes fetal cell transplants to reconstitute damaged pathways.
Deep brain stimulators are under investigation for control of these movement disorders and for other conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, severe stroke or brain injury.
In addition, gene studies continue to help with the diagnosis and treatment of all the movement disorders.
Also, drugs that greatly reduce the risk of movement disorders such as tardive dyskinesia, acute dystonia or drug-induced Parkinsonism are being used and studied.
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WFUBMC Approach
The treatment of movement disorders at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is a collaborative effort between the departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery.
Quality of life is further enhanced by the participation of physical, occupational and speech therapists and members of the Otolaryngology Department, who have special expertise in speech and swallowing difficulties.
Surgical treatments including pallidotomy, thalamotomy and thalamic or subthalamic deep brain stimulators are a special area of expertise of the Movement Disorders Unit.
Advanced image-guidance combining MRI and computed tomography and microelectrode recording are available to optimize these procedures. Members of the unit also have expertise in botulinum toxin injections to treat movement disorders.
In the Gamma Knife Center, the procedure – called surgery without a scalpel – is used to treat tremor, dyskinesia and Parkinson’s disease, as well as research those uses. The Gamma Knife is a type of stereotactic radiosurgery in which radiation is used with pinpoint accuracy.
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