Essential tremor associated with dementia

Dementia may be three times more common among people with essential tremor, a movement disorder that causes involuntary shaking, than the general population, according to research released March 6, 2024. The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 76th Annual Meeting taking place April 13–18, 2024, in person in Denver and online.

Essential tremor is the most common tremor disorder, more common than Parkinson's disease. In addition to arm and hand tremors, people may also develop involuntary shaking of the head, jaw and voice.

The study involved 222 people with essential tremor who had an average age of 79 at the start of the study. They took thinking and memory tests to determine whether they had normal cognitive skills, mild cognitive impairment or dementia at the start of the study.

During the study, 59 developed mild cognitive impairment and 41 developed dementia.

Researchers found 19% of participants had or developed dementia during the study, and each year an average of 12% of people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment went on to develop dementia. These rates were three times higher than the rates in the general population.