Tremors Essay

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Essential Tremor in Older adults
As we age, we face a host of age related changes, like hearing impairments, visual changes, increased short-term memory loss, natural bone loss, and decreased mobility. Comorbidities also increase with age such, as arthritis, hypertension, and heart disease. Another prevalent and often disregarding age related occurrence are essential tremors (ET) also referred to as senile tremors, familial tremors, benign tremors, intentional and action tremor. Essential tremors are the most common place neurological disorder in older adults (Louis & Ferreira 2010). It is defined as involuntary rhythmic movements of any body part. Typically affecting the fingers, hands, and forearm, less commonly they may affect the head and legs. Movememnt can be fast or slow visible with rest, action or sustained posture (Abboud & Ahmed, 2011). Though this is a frequently occurring condition, it often misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed due to lack of admission by patient or clinician inability to recognize signs and symptoms.
Prevalence/Epidemiology
According to Elias, Binit, and Shah (2014) it is estimated the 10 million to 20 million Americans suffers from ET and 6.3 % of the population is affected worldwide. The average age of onset is 52, but can present at ages greater than 60 and as young as 8 years old. Males are minimally affected more than women and there is no discrimination related to the patients’ race. ETs is a progressive disease that can negatively impact patients’ gross motor skill such as writing, getting dressed, cooking meals, fine motor skills such as writing thus causing distress at home and in the work environment. This disease can have a great impact on the patient mental health resulting from co...

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...ne, 311(9), 948-953.
Khalil, A., & Malik, S. (2013). Movement disorders and tremors. InnovAiT: The RCGP Journal for Associates in Training, 6(7), 416-424.
Louis, E., & Ferreira, J. (2010). How common is the most common adult movement disorder? Update on the worldwide prevalence of essential tremor. Movement Disorders, 25(5), 534-541.
Louis, E. D. (2009). Essential Tremors: A Family of Neurodegenerative Disorders? Archives of Neurology, 66(10), 1202-1208.
Pal, P. (2011). Guidelines for management of essential tremor. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, 14(5), 25.
Preventing Falls Among Older Adults. (2013). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/Features/OlderAmericans/
Yaman, A., Akdeniz, M., & Yaman, H. (2011). How best to address these common movement disorders. The Journal of Family Practice, 60(12), 721-725.

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