When it comes to “shaking hands”, many people think of Parkinson first. But in fact, the most common disease that causes tremor is not Parkinson, but essential tremor. “Tremor” refers to the involuntary and rhythmic oscillating movement of a certain part of the body (it can be a hand, leg, head, etc.). This kind of jitter cannot be controlled by itself, and the frequency and amplitude of the jitter are certain. law.
In the past, it was believed that, unlike Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor does not have a serious impact on the patient’s ability to live, and does not lead to a shortened lifespan. However, later observations found that a small number of patients with essential tremor can also exhibit severe symptoms, enough to cause a significant decline in the patients’ living ability and cause the patients to become disabled.
So, what are the symptoms of essential tremor?
1. Shake hands
The most common symptom of essential tremor is the involuntary shaking of hands and forearms, which can be unilateral or bilateral. In some people, unilateral symptoms can gradually develop into bilateral. Generally, the symptoms of hand tremor are obvious when holding things or raising the arms, and the tremors are the most severe when the limb movement is about to end. For example, when drinking water, when the cup of water is about to be brought to the mouth, the tremor is the most severe, and severe patients cannot complete the action of drinking water on their own. This is the so-called “postural/action tremor.” This feature is different from Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease has the most obvious limb jitter when it is still, that is, “stationary tremor”, and Parkinson’s patients may not always experience jitter symptoms.
2. Head shaking and trembling
Essential tremor can cause involuntary nodding or shaking of the head, that is, head tremor, and some people even experience voice tremor when speaking.
3. Symptoms improved after drinking
Another interesting aspect of essential tremor is that symptoms improve after drinking alcohol. Many patients who have the habit of drinking have some tremors in their wine glasses when they first drink. After drinking a few cups of wine, their symptoms are significantly relieved, but this relief is only temporary, and the tremor worsens the next day.
However, essential tremor rarely affects the legs and generally does not cause leg tremors. Therefore, when the legs are not moving, involuntary tremor occurs, and Parkinson’s disease needs to be considered. This disease often does not cause the patient to slow down/sluggish, especially when walking, the patient generally does not have any special feelings and performances. In addition, essential tremor generally does not affect the increase in muscle tone, so patients generally do not experience stiffness and mobility problems, which are clearly different from Parkinson’s disease.
For many early patients with essential tremor, although they have mild hand tremor, head tremor and other symptoms, they basically do not affect their lives. At this time, doctors often do not recommend the use of drugs, because drugs only relieve symptoms and can neither cure the disease nor cure the disease. Delay the development of the disease.
Only when the symptoms of shaking are obvious and cause a significant decrease in the quality of life, the doctor may prescribe medication for the patient in order to control the symptoms. However, there are no specific drugs for essential tremor. Patients may get treatments for epilepsy, heart disease, or even sleeping pills. This is not the doctor’s mistake, because these drugs are also often useful for controlling the symptoms of essential tremor. Effective. It is also precisely because of the particularity and non-specificity of drugs that doctors are often more cautious when using them, and medications and withdrawals are regular. Therefore, patients with essential tremor should refrain from taking medicines privately, not to mention eating, eating and stopping without following the doctor’s instructions. When to take medicines and how to reduce or stop, you need to consult a professional neurologist.
For critically ill patients, the above-mentioned different types of drug treatments are not satisfactory, and surgical treatment can also be considered. This requires professional neurosurgeons to help patients judge.
In terms of disease prevention, because the cause of essential tremor is not known at present, there is no effective prevention. However, if your family members have essential tremor or even Parkinson’s disease, you should pay more attention to your symptoms, because this disease has a certain family genetic predisposition. But don’t worry too much. This does not mean that you will get sick, but the chance of getting sick is higher than that of the average person.
