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Background: Tremor is commonly found among healthy humans or prevalently a symptom of neurological dysfunctions. However, the distinction between physiological and pathological tremor is dependent on the examiner's competence. Archimedes Spiral Rating (ASR) is a valid and reproducible semi-quantitative method to assess the severity of action tremor., Objectives: (1) To assess the range and percentiles of ASR in a large sample seemingly free of tremor-related conditions or symptoms from the population-based CHRIS-study. (2) To analyze the influence of sex, age, and the drawing hand on ASR. (3) To define ASR limits of normal. (4) To supply exemplary Archimedes spiral drawings by each rating to favor consistent and proficient clinical evaluation., Methods: Accurately investigated participants were randomly sampled over 14 sex-age strata. 2686 paired spirals drawn with both hands by 1343 participants were expertly assessed on a tremor rating scale from 0 to 9., Results: ASR had a quadratic increase with age in both sexes, while it was relatively lower in the dominant compared to the non-dominant hand and in women compared to men. ASRs above sex-age specific 97.5th percentiles of 4 and 5, below and above 60 years of age, respectively, were conceivably of non-physiological nature., Conclusions: In a large population-based sample we show a steeper increase of action tremor by age as age progresses. Relatively higher ratings among the elderly, males and the non-dominant hands, appear compatible with ASR limits of "normal" across sex-age groups. The current operational evidence may support practitioners differentiating physiological and pathological hand tremor., (© 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders Clinical Practice published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

The progressive neurodegenerative process in Parkinson's disease (PD) is not restricted to dopaminergic midbrain neurons but involves the entire nervous system. In this review, we outline established treatment options at different disease stages and address new therapeutic approaches. These include, based on recent advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of PD, genetic and disease-modifying approaches to reduce abnormal accumulation and aggregation of alpha-synuclein (aSYN), mitochondrial dysfunction, and dysfunction of lysosomal proteins. Moreover, we highlight clinical trials to reduce neuroinflammation and increase neurorestoration., (© 2019 The Authors Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics © 2019 American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.)

Essential tremor (ET) is a frequent movement disorder. The new tremor classification has subdivided ET into the classical form with bilateral action tremor of the hands with or without involvement of further tremor locations and without any other explaining signs or symptoms for the tremor and into 'ET plus' which comes additionally with further neurological signs of unknown origin. This will provide a better foundation for subclassifying the condition. The immediate cause of ET is a preformed oscillating network within the central nervous system as revealed with electrophysiological methods. The reason why this network is getting into the tremor mode is unclear. Pathology has so far not convincingly proved neurodegeneration for the condition but possibly adaptive changes of the brain particularly in the cerebellum are likely. Genetics have not yet provided insight into the molecular causes of the condition but several genetic diseases presenting with an ET syndrome have been uncovered. Treatment options cover medication (propranolol, primidone, topiramate) and surgical interventions with deep brain stimulation, gamma-knife surgery and the recently introduced magnetic resonance imaging guided focused ultrasound lesioning. Further progress is awaited from the better integration of large prospective cohort assessment and basic science studies on the possible etiologies. In particular, aging-related tremor may explain a large number of the patients seen in clinical practice. Currently ET is considered a clinically relatively uniform condition with presumably various underlying etiologies., (© 2017 EAN.)

Tremor covers a wide spectrum of entities summarized in the 1998 consensus statement of the Movement Disorder Society. Essential tremor (ET) is the most frequent tremor. So far this is only clinically defined and objective biomarkers for the disease are lacking. Furthermore, tremorologists agree that ET is not necessarily a single entity and we may be able to identify subgroups in the future. Both these aspects emphasize the important role of the clinical description of the patients and their symptoms. This video summarizes important aspects of the description of ET. We are covering the medical history, the semiology and the tests to exclude other tremors. We are following the terminology of the consensus criteria for tremor but it also shows how we approach this condition.