Essential tremor has been linked to an increased risk of developing dementia

A study by American scientists has found that dementia may be three times more common among people with essential tremor. This is reported in the announcement of the report, which will be presented in April at the 76th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. The study involved 222 people with essential tremor, with an average age of 79 years at the beginning of the study. Every 1.5 years, participants underwent a preservation of cognitive function examination for an average of five years. The researchers then compared the frequency with which participants developed mild cognitive impairment and dementia to the prevalence of cognitive impairment in the population. These rates were three times higher in the study group than in the general population.

Essential tremor refers to a slowly progressive disorder that manifests itself by involuntary shaking of the extremities of the body - more commonly the hands. Neurologists estimated that in the essential tremor group, 19 percent of participants developed dementia. It also found that 27 percent of participants experienced or developed moderate cognitive impairment during the study, nearly double the rate of 14.5 percent in the general population, but less than the 40 percent rate for people with Parkinson's disease.