Drugs, which are used for treatment of high blood pressure and seizures, can now be used to treat essential tremors.
Essential tremor is a neurological condition that leads to a kind of movement disorder. Involuntary movements of the muscle produce the tremor of the hands, head, neck, face etc. It affects few people after age of 40 and most people after the age of 60.According to the guidelines given by the American Academy of Neurology, for limb tremors surgery may be chosen if the drugs are found to be ineffective. The association in its press release had said tat although drugs may not fully cure the essential tremors, they can reduce the discomfort and increase the quality of life of the people who suffer from the condition.
According to the guidelines provided by AAN, deep brain stimulation is known to have fewer complications, in treating essential tremors through surgery, than thalamotomy. in the thalamotomy a lesion is made in the small part of the thalamus to stop the signals that cause the tremors. In the deep brain stimulation procedure an electric probe is placed inside the thalamus which helps block the impulse that cause the tremors.
Reference: Neurology, June 2005
