3 ms·

How is ET diagnosed separately from PD?

• spike021 6y ago
  Fair question and to be honest I'm not entirely sure. All I know is that I've had tremors since maybe 10 or so years old, went to a pediatric (I believe) neurologist during high school (over 10 years ago) and they diagnosed it as that. My grandfather has had tremors most of his life but no PD. We always attributed it to PTSD from the Holocaust and then fighting in WWII (came with the Americans to Omaha Beach on D-Day and nearly drowned, later was captured, etc.) but the fact that I clearly never experienced those things must possibly mean it's genetic. Though nobody else in my immediate family has it.
• 1123581321 6y ago
  I’m not a doctor, just a third (or longer) generation person with essential tremors on the paternal line. Essential tremors are generally diagnosed by observing that the tremors occur when trying to do things. Parkinson’s is diagnosed when the tremors occur while resting, doing nothing, but more importantly, Parkinson’s has other symptoms as it affects many pets of your body. Essential tremors worsen with age, and are really annoying, but they won’t shorten your life. Parkinson’s is a progressive disease that will shorten your life, and is managed differently. So the distinction between the two is not merely academic, even though there is overlap in how the shaking is managed.