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MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Patients with Medically-refractory Essential Tremor
Published on: December 13, 2017
Frailty in elderly persons with essential tremor: a population-based study (NEDICES)
E D Louis1, J Benito-León, S Vega
1The GH Sergievsky Center, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. EDL2@columbia.edu
European Journal of Neurology
|March 24, 2011
Summary
Essential tremor (ET) cases exhibit greater frailty than controls. This increased frailty may contribute to the higher mortality risk observed in some ET studies.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Gerontology
- Public Health
Background:
- Essential tremor (ET) is a common neurological disorder.
- ET is linked to comorbidities and potentially increased mortality.
- Frailty has not been previously studied in ET patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate frailty levels in essential tremor cases.
- To compare frailty in ET patients versus controls.
- To test the hypothesis that frailty is greater in ET cases.
Main Methods:
- A 20-item frailty score was used.
- The score assessed comorbidities, medications, and functional activity.
- Compared 237 ET cases with 3903 age-matched controls in Spain.
Main Results:
- ET cases showed significantly higher frailty scores than controls (8.6 vs. 6.8).
- Frailty increased with age, was higher in women, and correlated with poorer health status.
- Frailty was inversely correlated with body weight and physical activity levels.
Conclusions:
- Essential tremor patients demonstrate increased frailty compared to non-ET individuals.
- Further research is needed to determine if frailty contributes to increased mortality in ET.
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