Suffering from Essential Tremor?

Movement disorders like essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease can pose significant challenges in your life. Everyday activities like brushing your teeth, getting a glass of water or even writing your name can become monumental tasks because of the difficulty of holding an object or moving your hands the way you’re used to. This is where our brand-new treatment, the first of its kind in Delaware, could be the right option for you. Our MRI-guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS or FUS) is 100% non-invasive for patients with movement disorders.

Understanding Tremors

What are tremors? Tremors are involuntary shaking movements that can make everyday tasks tough. They may start in the hands or fingers and can increase or spread to other parts of your body over time.

Impact on daily life. Tremors can make simple activities like eating/drinking, writing, shaving, putting on makeup and using a phone difficult. The involuntary shaking can also make you feel embarrassed and cause you to avoid social and public activities to avoid being seen in public.

Essential Tremor vs. Parkinson’s Disease

Essential tremor is a neurological movement disorder that causes rhythmic shaking, primarily in the hands, but it can also affect the head, voice and other parts of your body. The tremors usually occur when using your hands (also called action tremors), such as when writing or holding a cup. For most people with essential tremor, both hands are affected equally.

Essential tremor is not usually associated with other neurological symptoms and tends to progress slowly over time. It often runs in families, which suggests it can be genetic. While essential tremor is more common in older adults, younger people in their 20s and 30s can also develop this condition.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects movement, causing tremors, slowness, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination. Tremors in Parkinson’s disease typically occur at rest and are often accompanied by other symptoms such as bradykinesia (slowness of movement), rigidity and postural instability. Parkinson’s usually starts on one side of your body more than the other, but the physical motor symptoms will eventually cross over and equally affect both sides.

Parkinson’s disease progresses more rapidly and can lead to significant disability over time. It can also cause non-motor symptoms such as depression, sleep disturbances and cognitive changes. Parkinson’s disease involves resting tremors, meaning you may have tremors even when your hands are at rest.

Traditional Treatment Options

Medications can be prescribed by your healthcare provider to manage tremors. Several medications are available, but remember that these aren’t always the best option since they can potentially interact with other medications, health conditions or cause troublesome side effects. Additionally, the effectiveness of these medications can diminish over time. Talk with your healthcare provider to determine if you are a good candidate for medication.

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Surgery is most often used to relieve symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and essential tremors when medicines can’t control them. DBS uses electrical impulses from a device to stimulate an area of your brain, which can change activity in that area. It is a more invasive surgical option than focused ultrasound since it involves implanting a device into your brain and can involve multiple surgeries.

Introducing MRI-Guided Focused Ultrasound

What is focused ultrasound? Focused ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to target and destroy specific tissue in your brain causing tremors without cutting into the brain or skull.

Benefits for patients include:

• Treatment option for patients who don’t respond well to medications.
• Immediate and significant reduction in tremors.
• Short recovery time: you go home on the same day as the procedure.
• Lower risk of infection, bleeding or stroke compared to other surgical options.

Most patients are approved for this treatment and can expect a significant improvement in their quality of life. The relief and hope that focused ultrasound brings is both physical and emotional, restoring optimism and reassurance in our patients.

Treatment for Parkinson’s disease. Focused ultrasound is also approved for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. However, it is more commonly offered in the essential tremor space because Parkinson’s disease involves other physical symptoms that need management. 90% of focused ultrasound cases are for essential tremor.

MRI-Guided Focused Ultrasound at ChristianaCare

Pioneering treatment in Delaware. ChristianaCare is proud to be the first healthcare organization in Delaware to offer focused ultrasound. With 25 successful treatments, we have seen almost every patient experience a dramatic improvement in their tremors post-procedure.

Patient selection. There may be exceptions for patients with physical complications that can prevent using focused ultrasound as a treatment option. One of the most important steps in the screening process is taking a CAT scan of your skull. Approximately 20% of patients are not eligible for focused ultrasound due to their anatomy. Your healthcare provider will carefully evaluate your medical history, current health status, and the specific characteristics of your tremors to determine if you are a suitable candidate for this treatment.

Long-term results. The results from focused ultrasound are intended to last permanently. Patients often ask, “How long does this last?” The goal is permanent results, but with essential tremor, the tremors could potentially come back depending on each patient. In general, published data shows that about three out of every four patients experience continued significant tremor control at five years. Your healthcare provider will discuss the long-term results of the treatment with you in detail during your consultation.

Recovery time. There is essentially little recovery time since this is an outpatient procedure, so you can go home and rest the same day with no restrictions to your daily activities. Rest assured, the recovery process is smooth and manageable.

Looking for Relief?

We’re here to help. Complete a form to find out if focused ultrasound is right for you or call one of our experts with your questions at 302-623-3411.