Latest Tremor Stories

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The last ten years have been challenging for Billy R. Williams of Fort Valley, Virginia. The former Pentagon employee, who survived the 9/11 terrorist attack, has suffered from essential tremor, a progressive and debilitating neurological disorder. Medications controlled his tremor for a while, but eventually the shaking became so severe that Williams found it impossible to do anything with his dominant right hand. He was unable...

PRINCETON, N.J., June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- GE Healthcare today announced the availability of DaTscan(TM) (Ioflupane I 123 Injection), in more than 80 hospitals across the US. DaTscan is the first FDA-approved radiopharmaceutical adjunct imaging agent to help physicians evaluate patients with suspected parkinsonian syndromes (PS), such as Parkinson's disease (PD). It gives physicians diagnostic capability that may lead to timely, appropriate treatments for suspected PS patients. "This is...

Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have developed a novel iPhone application that may enable persons with Parkinson's disease and certain other neurological conditions to use the ubiquitous devices to collect data on hand and arm tremors and relay the results to medical personnel.The researchers believe the application could replace subjective tests now used to assess the severity of tremors, while potentially allowing more frequent patient monitoring without costly...

GAINESVILLE, Fla., April 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "My sister Janet Reno has Parkinson's. My younger brother has Parkinson's. I have essential tremor. Sometimes we would all shake in unison." So said Maggy Hurchalla, a former Martin County, Fla., commissioner who talked about her family's experience with Parkinson's disease at the opening Monday of the University of Florida's new Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration. With her sister, former U.S. Attorney General...

HONOLULU, April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, GE Healthcare announced interim results of a recently completed randomized study of the impact of DaTscan(TM) SPECT imaging on the clinical management and diagnosis of adult patients who exhibit signs or symptoms of parkinsonian syndromes (PS). The results, presented at the 2011 American Academy of Neurology Meeting, are an important step in documenting the value of DaTscan as an adjunct diagnostic tool for use in differentiating between PS...

Medications lose effectiveness for many with longstanding tremors, study findsDeep brain stimulation, a surgical procedure to suppress faulty nerve signals, allowed 77 percent of patients to stop the medications used to treat their essential tremors within one year following the surgery, University of South Florida researchers report."It's a significant finding demonstrating that patients see a lot of symptom improvement with this treatment option," said Andrew Resnick, a research...

MIAMI, April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent nationwide survey conducted by the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) revealed 60 percent of Americans would wait to see their doctor if they were experiencing consistent regular tremors -- despite the fact that most of those surveyed (81%) recognized that tremors are an early warning sign of Parkinson's disease (PD). Although men suffer from Parkinson's 1.5-2 times more than females, the men surveyed were more likely to adopt a wait and see...

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- GE Healthcare announced today the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved DaTscan(TM) (Ioflupane I 123 Injection), a radiopharmaceutical agent intended for use with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging, for the detection of dopamine transporters (DaT) in the brains of adult patients with suspected Parkinsonian syndromes (PS).(1) The first FDA-approved diagnostic imaging agent to help physicians evaluate...

Sensitive new quantitive methods could be used to detect small signs of increased tremor and impaired motor skills caused by exposure to certain metals, and to follow up the treatment of neurological disorders, reveals a thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden."The aim was to investigate whether quantitative measurement methods, in other words sensitive computer-based methods, could be used to detect small changes in tremor or other motor functions resulting from exposure to low...

Using mild electrical signals to stimulate the brain has helped one musician overcome the neurological condition that prevented him from playing the violin, and experts say that the treatment -- known as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) -- can be effective for many individuals suffering from essential tremor, Parkinson's disease, and epilepsy.Roger Frisch, an associate concertmaster with the Minnesota Orchestra who was diagnosed with essential tumor in 2009, recently underwent the procedure at...