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The source of this article is The Daily Freeman: http://tinyurl.com/4wwzn Local doc isolates 'essential tremor' gene By Jesse J. Smith, Freeman staff02/10/2005 NEW PALTZ - A local physician and geneticist has made a breakthrough discovery that could help millions of people who suffer from a common trembling disorder. Dr. Joseph Higgins, of the Center for Human Genetics and Child Neurology of the Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute, announced on Tuesday that he had isolated a genetic mutation that causes "essential tremor," a neurological disorder responsible for involuntary shaking that afflicts between 1 percent and 4 percent of the general population. The discovery, published in the Feb. 8 edition of the medical journal Neurology, may one day lead to a definitive test for essential tremor, which frequently is misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease. Higgins' identification of the gene mutation follows eight years of research into the genetic foundation of essential tremor, which can cause involuntary shaking of the arms, hands, head and legs. The work began when Higgins, a Fishkill native, worked at the National Institutes of Health and involved population-based studies of more than 100 families in the United States and Singapore affected by essential tremor. The research focused on narrowing a list of possible locations for multiple genes related to the disorder, a process which, in the early stages, Higgins compared to "circling in orbit above the Earth looking for a burnt-out light bulb in a basement somewhere in New Paltz." Higgins' work in New Paltz was funded by a $600,000 National Institutes of Health grant and employed SUNY New Paltz graduate Joanna Pucilowska and Marist College grad Ronnie Lombardi as researchers. The work was carried out at the Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute's genetic research facility in New Paltz, which opened in 2000. Last year, Higgins identified a gene mutation that causes a form of mental retardation. Higgins said the most immediate clinical application of his research will be to develop a blood test to differentiate essential tremor from Parkinson's disease, which also causes involuntary shaking. Misdiagnoses of essential tremor as early stage Parkinson's is a persistent problem, and Higgins said his research will allow for better diagnoses in 10-15 percent of all cases. İDaily Freeman 2005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn