Association of Diet With Essential Tremor: A Narrative Review PMC

Action tremors are produced by voluntary muscle contraction and are further divided into postural, isometric, or kinetic tremors. Although new technologies such as positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography are under investigation for possible use in diagnosing specific tremor syndromes, they have no widespread applicability or use at this time. The history and physical examination remain the most important diagnostic tools available to clinicians in identifying and classifying tremor syndromes. Thompson et al57 found no effect of clonazepam on essential tremor.

Its side effects are mild to moderate and include slow heartbeat, fatigue, and shortness of breath. (People with asthma should not take propranolol.) Primidone is an antiseizure medication with mild to moderate side effects that include drowsiness, difficulty concentrating, nausea, and dizziness. Essential tremor symptoms often first appear in a person’s 40s, when delicate movements such as threading a needle become difficult. But it’s usually not until people reach their 50s or 60s that the tremor becomes troublesome — for example, making it difficult to use a fork, drink from a cup, or write a letter.

Essential Tremor Disorder

Essential tremor is the term for having uncontrolled shaking movements in parts of your body – most commonly your arms and hands – with no other symptoms and no underlying cause. It is mild in some people but can become severe and disruptive to daily activities in others. There is good treatment available in the form of medication and occasionally surgery. It can be intention tremor, task-specific tremor, or simple kinetic tremor.

The controls in all the studies on environmental factors and lifestyle influencing essential tremor do not deal with a particular component exclusively resulting in adulteration of the data due to other factors. There is no investigation of the gender-specific or age-specific carbohydrate, protein, and lipid levels in the essential tremor patients to establish a link. Some other articles were not specific to essential tremor and discussed neurological disorders in general.

Tremor Syndromes

It should be noted whether stress or fatigue increases the amplitude of the tremor. If weight loss, irritability, racing heart, or neck swelling is described, the patient should be examined for thyroid enlargement, exophthalmos, brisk reflexes, and tachycardia. The thyroid-stimulating hormone level is checked to rule out hyperthyroidism.

• The cerebellum is the part of the brain that controls coordination and balance.
• For essential tremor in your hands, botulinum toxin (Botox) injections have shown some promise in easing the trembling.
• Further research needs to be done on the association of nutritional components and vitamin deficiency with the essential tremor.
• In the outpatient setting, the clinical features and neurologic examination findings are the most important assessment tools in evaluating patients with tremor.
• No signs of tolerance were seen, and most patients with sedation found that this significantly diminished after a six to seven week period.
• Propanolol blocks the stimulating action of neurotransmitters to calm your trembling.

Dopamine receptor D3 partial agonists or antagonists inducing diet may be considered therapeutic options for patients with essential tremor [37]. Surgical treatment modalities such as magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy, deep brain stimulation, and radiosurgery improve the quality of life in essential tremor patients [38-39]. The prevalence of essential tremor essential tremors and alcohol can be reduced by the use of certain drugs. Pharmacotherapy of essential tremor reduces the risk of incidence. Around 50% of patients have a reduction in the severity of essential tremor with the help of propranolol and primidone [40]. Invasive surgical treatments and radiotherapy may not be effective for the long term or desired by the patient due to their risks [40, 42].