Common condition 3% of people have could mean higher chance of getting dementia

09 March 2024 , 23:39

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A new study suggests dementia could be as much as three times more common among people suffering from an essential tremor, (Image: Getty Images)

People who suffer with a common condition causing them to tremor involuntarily could face a much higher chance of developing dementia, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the department of neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas have studied the link between sufferers of essential tremor dementia. They found that the disease which affects people's memory is as much as three times more common among people living with the tremor.

Despite this, the risk is still less than people who suffer with Parkinson's. It is estimated that around 10 million Americans have an essential tremor. Essential Tremor is commonly misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. However, around eight times as many people have the condition.

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It is estimated that around 10 million Americans have an essential tremor (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

There is evidence that essential tremor is genetic with every child of a parent with the condition having an around 50% chance of inheriting a gene which could cause the condition. However, sometimes even people with no family history of the tremor can develop it. While there are no medical tests for the tremor, a movement disorder specialist can make a diagnosis.

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For the recent study, researchers tracked 222 patients with essential tremor. U.S.News reports that the patients had an average age of 79 at the start of the study, and were regularly given thinking and memory tests to track the onset of dementia. About 19% of participants developed dementia during the study, and each year an average 12% of people went on to develop dementia.

Those rates were three times higher than rates of the general population, but lower than rates found in people with Parkinson’s, researchers said. The findings will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in April.

Researchers at the department of neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas have studied the link between sufferers of essential tremor dementia. (Getty Images)

“Not only do tremors affect a person’s ability to complete daily tasks such writing and eating, our study suggests that people with essential tremor also have an increased risk of developing dementia,” said researcher .

They went on: “While the majority of people with essential tremor will not develop dementia, our findings provide the basis for physicians to educate people with essential tremor and their families about the heightened risk, and any potential life changes likely to accompany this diagnosis."

Researchers could not say why essential tremor might be linked to dementia, since the study was only observational. Currently, the research should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Ffion Lewis