- People with essential tremor are at an increased risk for several conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, cardiovascular disease, and hearing impairments.
- Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have found that people with essential tremor may be three times as likely to develop dementia than the general population.
- More studies on the link between essential tremor and dementia risk are needed to establish causation.
In 2020,
There is currently no cure for essential tremor. As the condition advances, it can be hard for a person to conduct everyday activities such as handwriting, eating, and bathing.
Previous research shows that people with essential tremor are also at an increased risk for several conditions, including:
Now researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have found that people with essential tremor may be three times as likely to develop dementia than the general population.
The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 76th Annual Meeting in April.
For this study, researchers recruited 222 study participants with essential tremor with an average age of 79 at the start of the study.
All participants were asked to take thinking and memory tests to determine whether or not they had healthy cognition, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia.
At the start of the study, 168 participants had healthy cognitive skills, 35 had mild cognitive impairment, and 19 had dementia.
During the study time period, participants had follow-up exams every 1.5 years for an average of 5 years.
At the conclusion of the study, researchers found that 19% of the study participants had or…
Read the full article here