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The source of this article is Wausau Daily Herald: http://tinyurl.com/6z2fn Sun, Jul 11, 2004 Help available to treat tremors By Jeni Lewis For the Wausau Daily Herald MARSHFIELD - By the time Pam Klessig finally went to a neurologist because her hands and head were continuously shaking, she already had an idea what the diagnosis might be. "What happened was my tremors were getting progressively worse, and I thought I had Parkinson's disease," said Klessig, a 46-year-old elementary school teacher from Eagle River. Instead, she was told she had essential tremor, a neurological movement disorder that affects 10 million Americans, according to the International Essential Tremor Foundation. Researchers expect to find better treatments or even a cure for the disorder within the next decade. Until that time, there are treatment options available. "I hesitate to call essential tremor a disease because for most people it's not like a disability. It's certainly not life-threatening," said Brad Hiner, director of the Movement Disorder Clinic at Marshfield Clinic. "For individuals it really does interfere with their quality of life. Simple things like eating, drinking, dressing, shaving and handwriting are out the window because they shake so bad." After 20 years of not being able to control the shaking and trying to avoid people asking if she was OK, Klessig had a hard time accepting the diagnosis. "I decided I was at least going to go down and confer with the neurologist (at Marshfield Clinic)," she said. "I still absolutely positively thought I had Parkinson's disease." The condition affects Americans six times more often than Parkinson's disease and can target people of all ages. Treatments include medication with potential side effects of fatigue and low blood pressure. Or patients, like Klessig, have the option to undergo surgery called deep brain stimulation. In her surgery, Klessig had an electrode lead implanted into the thalamus part of her brain, and wires connecting the lead to two pulse generators installed in her chest. The pulse generators are run by batteries, which monitor the movements the thalamus controls. As many as one in 20 people over the age of 40 are affected with essential tremors, and research is continuously occurring to identify what causes this disorder. "We don't know what the cause is; we know where the problem is," Hiner said. Anywhere from one-third to one-half of people with diagnosed cases will have a family history of the disorder. "There is research ongoing trying to identify a chromosome or a gene, but we're not there yet," Hiner said. "(Marshfield Clinic) continues to be involved in a lot of research, more leaning toward Parkinson's disease. They're similar but they're different." For Klessig, the cure can't come soon enough, even though her surgery has controlled her tremors to a great degree. "Because the average American person is ignorant to the essential tremor condition, they can make some very callous comments," Klessig said. "It's given me, in the same respect, a great empathy for those people who have a disability." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn