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Barbara Veon
Health & Wellness
2008-05-01 13:20:00
Shaky hands?
Question: My hands have been a little shaky for l0 years or so but this last year it has gotten much worse. Sometimes I can hardly eat because of the shaking. I hate to eat at restaurants because I am so embarrassed about spilling food everywhere. This seems to run in our family as I have some aunts whose hands shake, but they are much older. What causes this and is there anything I can do to get it to stop? I’m worried about losing my job as a repairman if it gets worse.
Answer: Many things can cause shaky hands. If shaking is the only problem, a common cause is a disorder called Essential Tremor (also called benign tremors, familial tremors, hereditary tremors, or intention tremors), the most common of more than 20 kinds of tremors. The rhythmic, small, back-and-forth movement usually affects the hands, but it may also affect the head, neck, face, tongue or voice. Up to 1 in 20 people aged 40 or older may have tremors. The disorder can run in families but does not always. The main symptom is shaking hands when you try to do something like drink from a glass, eat, shave, brush your teeth or use a screwdriver. It may happen when you hold your arms out in front of you, or when you write. The action makes the tremor worse. When you are watching TV or resting, you may not notice much tremor. The tremor may happen on one side more than the other and may come and go. It often worsens if you are stressed. Alcohol may lessen the tremor. As you can imagine this can be very bothersome, interfering with most activities. Your family physician or a neurologist (who specializes in this type of problem) can determine the cause of your shaking with a complete evaluation. Rare causes of other kinds of tremor include problems with your thyroid, liver or kidneys, alcohol withdrawal, low blood sugar, or a more general neurological condition. Be sure to ask about all the available treatments. One good resource is www.essentialtremor.org. If it is essential tremor, there are several safe medicines that can lessen tremors and help you live a full life. If they don’t, or if they help for a while then shaking worsens, there is also a procedure called deep brain stimulation that can be very effective. In deep brain stimulation, a thin lead attached to a pacemaker-type generator is implanted to give a little electrical stimulation in the precise area of the brain that controls shaking. The wearer is not aware of the stimulation and has no pain from it. To find out more about essential tremor and this treatment, contact Via Christi Neuroscience Implant Program at (316) 858-3540 or (800) 362-0070 and ask for the program.
 
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