Essential tremor: from bedside to bench and back to bedside

Abstract

Purpose of review: The last several years have witnessed a remarkable increase in research on essential tremor, with consequent advances in our understanding of this entity. An attempt to both summarize and frame this work has not been undertaken.

Recent findings: Here, I show that observations on essential tremor arising from clinical practice/clinical studies have guided scientific studies of this disorder. In turn, the results of scientific studies are beginning to be translated back to the bedside to improve treatment. Recent essential tremor research has given rise to several novel and intriguing ideas about the disease. These include the following: essential tremor may represent a family of diseases rather than a single disease; essential tremor seems to be a disease of the cerebellum or cerebellar system; essential tremor may be neurodegenerative; low gamma aminobutyric acid tone seems to be a central feature of essential tremor. As with many emerging ideas, there is significant discussion and debate over these emerging ideas, and this fuels additional scientific studies.

Summary: The flow of ideas from clinical observations about essential tremor, to their translation into scientific studies, and their translation back to the bedside, is expected to eventually lead to improvements at the patient interface.