Purpose of review: Tremors can be encountered in a variety of disease states but the most common causes are Parkinson disease and essential tremor. This review was undertaken to highlight advances in the field during the last 12 months.
Recent findings: Kinetic tremor may be more prominent in essential tremor than postural tremor. Clinically Parkinson disease and essential tremor may be confused with each other but it may be possible to distinguish between these two nitrites using sophisticated electrophysiology. Monosymptomatic rest tremor has recently been shown to be associated with decreased fluorodopa uptake on the positron emission tomography scan suggesting its relationship to Parkinson disease.
Summary: Significant advances have been made in the understanding of the pathophysiology, genetics and therapy of tremor disorders during the last 12 months. This review will consider Parkinson disease, essential tremor and other tremors and highlight advances in the field.