One aspect of most neurological diseases is that their symptoms seem quite insignificant at first, but slowly increase in severity over time. Individuals tend to procrastinate a visit to the their doctor’s clinic until the symptoms have progressed too far, when significant damage has already been done. One such disorder (aptly named) is Essential Tremor (ET). ET is a neurological condition where a person’s hands, heads, voice and sometimes the lower limbs shake while performing various tasks. The disease is most often misunderstood to be Parkinson’s disease, but its symptoms are exactly the opposite – the tremors occur during movement rather than at rest.
A common but misunderstood disease
The disease affects about 10 million Americans today and has various degrees of severity. Many individuals generally experience small “normal” tremors, but in individuals who are predisposed to this condition, the tremors increase in intensity over time. With no effective treatments available on the market, individuals have to manage their lifestyles and accept the disease as a social challenge.
Previously it was believed that ET was not connected to any changes in the brain. But recent studies have revealed that ET is in fact connected to pathological changes in the brain, similar to Parkinson’s disease and dementia. This means that ET could be part of a family of neurological diseases that share common characteristics and mechanisms in the brain. This new insight is coming from the pursuits at Dr. Elan D. Louis lab at the Columbia University Department of Neurology (see The New York Times Report here and here). A study of 50 patients who previously suffered from ET has revealed very similar neurodegeneration features like Lewy bodies in Parkinson’s disease. Researchers now expect to gain more insight into neurological diseases through further investigations into ET.
ET as our window into a better understanding of neurological diseases
ET is a unique case in point among other neurological diseases. It connects what most individuals experience as “normal tremors” to the heavy tremors faced by ET patients. Consequently, it could serve as our window into a better understanding of neurological diseases. An understanding of the various biochemical mechanisms causing tremors in humans will help us uncover the causes of neurodegeneration. Furthermore, we will be able to understand the factors that accentuate these mechanisms. We can then develop new treatments that target these mechanisms and curb the progression of neurodegenrative processes. Further studies into Essential Tremors hold great potential in challenging our present knowledge of neurological diseases and provide new opportunities for new treatments.
