Are essential tremors genetically inherited?

Question

Hi doctor,

The person I am talking about has severe tremors in his hands and fingers while going to new places. So, he avoids huge crowds and noise. The person is 30 now and said that the problem has been there since childhood.

All of the siblings have this tremor in their hands and fingers. If the men or women from the affected family marry a person outside the family, does it affect the child? Is this type of tremor curable?

Women in the family are unable to hold the lid of the pressure cooker and cut vegetables. Men in the family are unable to hold a teacup, which means their hands are shaking, and they are unable to dial a number on a mobile phone without shaking. They underwent tests 10 years ago and were diagnosed with essential tremor.

Now, I want to know the answers to the following questions.

What are the further impacts and symptoms of essential tremor over a period of time if left untreated?
How does it affect the daily activities?
Is it genetically transferable to the next generation?
Do we have any permanent cure for essential tremor?
If the person has essential tremor, then what are the chances of linkage to other illnesses and disorders?

Please guide.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have read your question with care and understand your doubts regarding essential tremors. If not treated, the person will not be able to do or will do with much difficulty work involving fingers, like writing, mixing food, buttoning shirts, etc. Activities that require coordinated movements of the fingers will be affected.

Essential tremors can be caused by various factors, and a few of these reasons are transmitted genetically. A few are acquired. Even among the ones that are transmitted genetically, they can be AD, AR, XD, and XR, that is, autosomal dominant, autosomal resistant, X-linked dominant, and X-linked resistant, respectively. So, unless we know the exact cause of this tremor, we cannot answer questions about genetic transmission.

Without knowing the exact cause, the answer to this question is 0 to 100 (0 for acquired and 100 for AD). The cure of essential tremor depends on the cause. A few causes can be cured completely, a few can be controlled, and a few cannot be cured at all. Again, the link with other illnesses and disorders depends on the cause of the tremor.

Coming to this particular patient, who has these tremors when going to new places or during anxiety, these tremors can be controlled with proper medication. You have to consult a neurosurgeon who has experience in successfully treating such patients for physical evaluation.

I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

AD, AR, XD, and XR are various ways in which a disease is transmitted genetically. You have mentioned that tremors run in the family, but you have not told me the mode by which they are transmitted. So, I am not able to tell whether they will affect the next generation or not.

If we find whether the disease is multifactorial or single-gene and whether it is transmitted by AD, AR, XD, and XR, then we can say for sure whether the next generation will be affected or not. As I already mentioned, you have to consult a neurosurgeon like me for a complete evaluation.

I hope this helps.

Thank you.