Essential Tremor Awareness Web Based Survey
Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder, yet the October 2011 update of the 2005 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Practice Parameter: Therapies for essential tremor, does not include new recommendations. No new therapies highlight the need for essential tremor research.
Responses to the Tremor Action Network & HopeNET Survey are a way that may help those with essential tremor be better served by more awareness of the most common movement disorder, and an increase in funding of research for new therapies. No researcher is affiliated with this survey.
Some questions will require only a Yes or No straightforward answer. Multiple-choice questions include Comment fields that allow participants the option to add other choices. All responses will be kept absolutely confidential and will never be associated with any individual.
Everyone diagnosed with essential tremor is invited to take this survey.
The Natural History of Essential Tremor:
A Web Based Survey
On behalf of Esther Baldinger, M.D. and Long Island College Hospital students under Dr. Baldinger’s supervision, Tremor Action Network invited website visitors, subscribers of the quarterly newsletter Spikes & Spasms, members of the Yahoo health group Tremor, Twitter followers of Tremor Action, We Move and Facebook Advocates, and the University of Miami patients of Fatta Nahab, M.D., to participate in a follow-up survey of people with Essential Tremor. The purpose of the survey was to try to learn more about this disease. Why does tremor begin in one part of the body for a particular person and in another part of the body for someone else? Do some people’s tremor progress to involve more parts of the body? How long does this take and why does it happen? Does tremor begin in the same way for all those affected in a family? Does the part of the body in which the tremor begins influence how the disease will progress? Do other diseases have an influence on how or whether the tremor worsens? Does gender, race, weight or education play any role?
Individual survey responses have been kept absolutely confidential and are not associated with any one individual. The benefits of completing this survey included a greater understanding of the causes and progression of Essential Tremor. By participating in this survey, participants agreed to have their responses collected and compared with the responses of others for the purpose of analysis. The abstract summary results of the survey that appear on the Tremor Action Network website may be published by Dr. Baldinger in a medical journal once the information has been evaluated.
Tremor Action Network and Dr. Baldinger thank survey participants for their participation and time in completing this survey.
Disclaimer: Information in this survey should not be taken as medical advice or endorsement of any treatment. Please consult with your own health care provider for any discussion or decisions related to your own treatment.
Survey of Essential Tremor
Essential Tremor (ET) is common, but many features of this movement disorder are unknown. Esther Baldinger, M.D. designed her first online survey to understand more about ET. A very important question is whether all ET patients have the same disease? Do people with one type of ET-gene look or act differently from those with another ET-gene? Does race or ethnicity play any role? Do substances in the diet or environment produce ET or influence progression? Do lifestyle choices like work, hobbies, sports, and even sleep make a difference? The abstract summary results of the survey and Dr. Baldinger’s analysis of the collected information, “Essential Tremor Survey,” appear on the Tremor Action Network website.