<h1>Essential Tremor - whatizit?</h1>

It's a voting day today. I went to cast my vote but showed up a half hour early. The officials asked me to sit and wait and I overheard them talking about a voter yesterday (advance polls) whose hand was shaking so much, she had to get someone to mark her ballot. Apparently she suffered) from essential tremor.

I had never heard of ET until a reader told me he was a victim and so began my reading.

ET is the most common movement disorder, the cause of which is not yet known. It is characterized by

1. shaking that cannot be controlled
   
2. What I call "a wobbly head"
   
3. A reverberation in your voice.
   
4. Tremors are worse when you are under stress or are using your hands (eg to lift a glass f water to your mouth.
5. Severity of symptoms increases with age.
6. It can start in adolescence but usually hits people over 50.

ET is sometimes misdiagnosed as PD (and vice versa). But there are differences. The tremor in our hands for example, arrives when our hands are at rest. In the ET tribe, the tremor starts when they put their hands to work. There are several drugs that lessen the severity of the tremor with DBS for those who the drugs don't help.

ET is just another brain disease for the researchers to work on in their search for a cure. It is beyond my comprehension how they can navigate their thinking through the most complicated instrument in the universe .... the brain. I say thank you and please, don't give up. There is a cure for all types of degenerative brain disorders and someone's going to find them, so it might as well be you. Hang in there.

I don't want to sound greedy...NAAH....Truth is I don't care how I sound. Just bring PD to the front of the line.