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Age and Ageing Advance Access originally published online on April 26, 2006
Age and Ageing 2006 35(4):344-349; doi:10.1093/ageing/afj072
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Review

Essential tremor—the most common movement disorder in older people

Bhomraj Thanvi1, Nelson Lo1 and Tom Robinson2

1 Leicester General Hospital, Medicine for the Elderly, Leicester, UK
2 Glenfield General Hospital, Medicine for the Care of Older People, Leicester, UK

Address correspondence to: B. Thanvi. Tel: (+44) 1162 584048. Email: bthanvi{at}hotmail.com

Essential tremor (ET) affects ~4% of the population above 65 years of age. The traditional view that ET is a familial monosymptomatic disorder with a benign prognosis has recently been challenged, as it is now known to be a progressive and clinically heterogeneous condition with sporadic and familial forms. The pathogenesis of ET is not fully understood, though a disordered central mechanism is the most likely site of origin with possible modulation by muscle adrenoreceptors. The limited post-mortem studies have not shown consistent abnormalities in the brains of ET patients. ET is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease, particularly in the older population. Tremor amplitude increases with age, accounting for substantial disability in older people. Current therapy (drugs and neurosurgery) has significant limitations in older people. A better understanding of its pathophysiology in the future will help in developing more effective therapy, including neuroprotective strategies.

Keywords: essential tremor, older people, disability, elderly


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