Glossary

There are alternative treatments that help some people with essential tremor lessen stress and improve sleep patterns.
*Hypnotherapy
*Tai Chi
Read More:
http://www.essentialtremor.org/treatments/alternative-medicine/

Benign Essential Tremor is another name for Essential Tremor

Deep brain stimulation is a surgical procedure that is used to treat the neurological symptoms of Essential Tremor.
A neurostimulation device, placed under the collarbone and connected to a wire implanted under the skin that runs up the length of the neck, delivers electrical pulses to the very precise location in the brain circuits that causes symptoms due to abnormal activity. The electrical pulses from the device block the activity of these circuits enabling the rest of the brain to function better, resulting in improvement or even complete removal of tremor.
DBS poses a small risk of bleeding and infection and possible risks to the device such as breakage or movement of a wire.

Diagnosing Essential Tremor involves reviewing medical history, family history and symptoms as well as conducting a physical examination.  Since no medical tests to diagnose Essential Tremor are available, diagnosing Essential Tremor involves ruling out other factors that may be causing this condition.

To do this, a doctor may suggest the following tests:
*Neurological examination
*Laboratory tests
*Performance tests
*Dopamine transporter scan, if doctor is unsure if the tremor is Essential Tremor or Parkinson’s disease.

Dystonic tremors can sometimes look like Essential Tremor. But, dystonic tremors are usually associated with dystonic body postures.

Essential Tremor is neurological disorder which causes involuntary and rhythmic shaking. Trembling occurs most often in the hands.  It is one of the most common neurological disorders among adults, especially those above the age of 40. A genetic mutation is the cause of about half of the cases. But a specific gene has yet to be identified.
Read More: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000762.htm

Tremors may improve slightly after drinking alcohol. But, once the effects of alcohol wear off, tremors tend to worsen.

Botulinum toxin therapy involves injecting botulinum toxin into muscles. It is useful in the treatment of some patients with head and voice tremor and sometimes for a hand tremor.
A trained specialist places the toxin into the target muscles. Repeat injections are needed approximately every three months. A potential side effect is transient weakness of the injection site.
Read More:
http://www.essentialtremor.org/treatments/botox/

About half of the cases of Essential Tremor appear to result from a genetic mutation, but a specific gene has not been identified. It isn’t clear what causes Essential Tremor in people without this mutation.

Essential Tremor can be treated with medications:
Propranolol (Inderal®) which is primarily used for treating high blood pressure. It is most effective to help reduce hand tremors.
Primidone (Mysoline®) which is an anti-seizure medication.
Anti-anxiety medications are sometimes used for patients who don’t respond to the other two or have associated anxiety.
Read More:
http://www.essentialtremor.org/treatments/medication/

Natural ways to reduce and relieve tremors:
*Avoid caffeine
*Use alcohol sparingly, if at all
*Learn to relax
*Lifestyle changes, such as using the hand not affected by the tremor more often, online banking and debit cards instead of checks
Read more: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/essential-tremor/manage/ptc-20177888

In patients with less debilitating Essential Tremor, relaxation therapies and reducing emotional stress, using the less disabled hand to write or eat, using wrist weights and minimizing exposure to tremorogenic foods (e.g., caffeine) and drugs (e.g., sympathomimetics) are used to help.
Physical or occupational therapy may be recommended. Physical therapists can teach exercises to improve muscle strength, control and coordination.
Occupational therapists can help patients adapt to living with Essential Tremor and might suggest adaptive devices to reduce the effect of tremors on daily activities.

There are various treatments for Essential Tremor including:
*Medication
*Botulinium Toxin therapy
*PT/OT
*Deep Brain Stimulation (“DBS”)
*Thalamotomy
*Gamma Knife Radiation
*MRI-Guided Focused Ultrasound Therapy (MRgFUS)
*Neuravive

Tremors may increase with caffeine and other stimulants.
After drinking alcohol, it may seem like the tremors have improved slightly, but the tremors tend to worsen once the alcohol has worn off.

A familial tremor is another name for Essential Tremor

Essential Tremor does not usually affect the feet. It most often affects the head and hands.

Gamma knife/radiation is a radiation treatment that targets the cells of the ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) in the thalamus in order to destroy overactive cells that cause tremor.

See Essential Tremor Causes

Essential Tremor is the most common cause of shaky hands.
But, shaky hands can also be caused by:
*seizure
*overactive thyroid
*cerebellar disease
*Huntington’s disease
*medication side effects
*caffeine overdose
*alcohol abuse or addiction
*anxiety
*low blood sugar
Read More:
http://www.healthline.com/health/treating-shaking-hands?m=2#Causes2

Juvenile Essential Tremor is when Essential Tremor occurs in children. It has a prevalence of 4.6%-5.3% of the childhood population. There is frequently family history of tremor.

MRgFUS is an abbreviation for Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound. It is a non-invasive technique which uses focused beams of acoustic energy to heat and destroy target cells avoiding harm to the adjacent tissue. The treatment is guided by MR imaging.
Read More:
https://www.essential-tremor.com/about-neuravive-treatment/

The Neuravive Treatment is based on MR-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) technology which combines high intensity focused ultrasound guided by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
Ultrasound is a form of energy that passes through skin, muscle, fat and bone without the need for incisions, electrodes or inserted probes. Ultrasound energy is non-ionizing, which means the patient is not being exposed to radiation during the procedure. High intensity focused ultrasound energy, when focused on a small target volume, raises the tissue temperature of the target high enough to destroy it, providing a therapeutic effect.
During the Neuravive procedure, ultrasound waves pass through the brain without the need for an incision. The ultrasound waves are focused on the Vim nucleus of the thalamus to create a tiny ablation or burn.
The whole procedure is conducted inside an MRI imaging scanner. The MRI is the eyes of the treatment, enabling the physician to plan, guide and target the area easily. Additionally, it enables precise measurement of the temperature in order to verify that only the intended tissue is targeted and destroyed.
Advantages of the Neuravive treatment with Exablate Neuro: immediate tremor improvement, non-invasive, quick recovery, outpatient procedure, FDA Approved and CE Marked, Improvement in Quality of Life and minimal complications.
Read More:

About The Neuravive Treatment

See MRgFUS Essential Tremor Treatment and Neuravive Treatment

Parkinson’s Disease is a chronic and progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement. Typical symptoms include: slowed movement, muscle stiffness and tremor while at rest.

Parkinson’s disease can be confused with Essential Tremor. They are separate diseases. Essential Tremor’s main symptom is an action tremor, while Parkinson’s disease has other associated symptoms including tremor at rest.
Read more:
http://essentialtremor.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ETvsPD092012.pdf for more

Senile Tremor is essential tremor at advanced age. It usually begins between 50 and 60 and progresses rapidly.

Signs and symptoms of Essential Tremor:
*Begin gradually, usually on one side of the body
*Worsens with movement
*Usually starts in the hands, affecting either one or both hands
*May include a “yes-yes” or “no-no” motion of the head
*Can be aggravated by emotional stress, fatigue, caffeine or temperature extremes
Read more:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/essential-tremor/symptoms-causes/dxc-20177829

Thalamotomy is a surgical lesioning treatment for Essential Tremor that requires insertion of a probe deep into the brain to heat and destroy the Vim nucleus of the thalamus. It is usually not performed on both sides of the brain due to a higher risk of complications.

A tremor is an unintentional, rhythmic muscle movement involving oscillations, to-and-fro movements of one or more parts of the body.  It is the most common of all involuntary movements. It can affect the hands, arms, head, face, voice, trunk, and legs.

Tremor-predominant Parkinson’s disease is distinguished by prominent tremor of one or more limbs. It does not cause significant rigidity and slowness in executing a movement. The tremor of tremor-predominant Parkinson’s disease can be very disabling.

Essential Tremor can be treated surgically. Surgical options include:
*DBS
*Thalamotomy
*Gamma Knife
*MRI Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS): Non-invasive surgery