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The Truth about Essential Tremor -
Not Just Nerves |
DonateTHIS PREVALENT CAUSE OF SHAKINESS IS OFTEN MISTAKEN FOR PARKINSON'S.
This prevalent cause of shakiness is often mistaken for Parkinson's.
Tremors associated with essential tremor typically occur while the person is eating, drinking, writing, typing, brushing teeth or performing another movement-oriented activity.
If your hand routinely shakes when you hold a drink, sign your name or tap a number into your cellphone, you may fear that you're experiencing signs of Parkinson's disease. But what you're more likely to have is essential tremor, a common neurological condition that causes an involuntary, rhythmic trembling of the hands during movement but can also affect the head, voice or legs. While it's often confused with Parkinson's, essential tremor is eight times more common and affects an estimated 10 million people in the U.S.,.
Unlike Parkinson's, which is a degenerative disease that causes someone to lose brain cells, essential tremor is results from a malfunction of certain neurons, but you don't lose brain cells, and you don't lose gait or balance."
Despite its prevalence, it wasn't until 2013 that essential tremor was given its own specific diagnostic code, one that's distinct from other tremors, in the 10th edition of the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems (ICD) code book. In medicine, the word "essential" means there's no known underlying cause for a symptom, which is the case for essential tremor.
Tremors associated with essential tremor typically occur while the person is eating, drinking, writing, typing, brushing teeth or performing another movement-oriented activity.
If your hand routinely shakes when you hold a drink, sign your name or tap a number into your cellphone, you may fear that you're experiencing signs of Parkinson's disease. But what you're more likely to have is essential tremor, a common neurological condition that causes an involuntary, rhythmic trembling of the hands during movement but can also affect the head, voice or legs. While it's often confused with Parkinson's, essential tremor is eight times more common and affects an estimated 10 million people in the U.S.,.
Unlike Parkinson's, which is a degenerative disease that causes someone to lose brain cells, essential tremor is results from a malfunction of certain neurons, but you don't lose brain cells, and you don't lose gait or balance."
Despite its prevalence, it wasn't until 2013 that essential tremor was given its own specific diagnostic code, one that's distinct from other tremors, in the 10th edition of the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems (ICD) code book. In medicine, the word "essential" means there's no known underlying cause for a symptom, which is the case for essential tremor.
