HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Correspondence: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Correspondence are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Louis, E. D. Articles by Mazzoni, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Louis, E. D. Articles by Mazzoni, P. Related Collections All Movement Disorders Tremor

Historical underpinnings of the term essential tremor in the late 19th century

From GH Sergievsky Center (E.D.L.), Department of Neurology (E.D.L., P.K., P.M.), and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain (E.D.L.), College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY; Department of Epidemiology (E.D.L.), Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY; Université Lyon I (E.B.), Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôpital Neurologique et Neurochirurgical Pierre Wertheimer, Service de Neurologie C and INSERM U 864, Lyon, France; Department of Neurology (C.G.G.), Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL; and Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble I (P.K.), Service de Neurologie, Hôpital Michallon, INSERM U 836, Grenoble Institut Neurosciences, Grenoble, France.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Elan Louis, Unit 198, Neurological Institute, 710 West 168th Street, New York, NY, 10032 EDL2{at}columbia.edu

Background: The term essential tremor has been in regular use since the second half of the 20th century. To modern neurologists, the word "essential" may seem cryptic. The historical underpinnings of this term have not been examined.

Objectives: To bring to attention early medical reports using the term essential tremor and examine the characteristics of the disorder that contributed to the proposed use of the term.

Methods: Review of 19th and early 20th century medical literature on essential tremor.

Results: The term tremore semplice essenziale (simple essential tremor) was first used by Burresi (Italy, 1874) to describe an 18-year-old man with severe, isolated action tremor. Several years later, Maragliano (Italy, 1879), Nagy (Austria, 1890), and Raymond (France, 1892) described similar cases and proposed the terms tremore essenziale congenito (essential congenital tremor), essentieller Tremor (essential tremor), and tremblement essentiel héréditaire (hereditary essential tremor) to define the illness. Mirroring contemporaneous views of constitutional and inherited disease, the key ingredients of the disorder were viewed as the constant presence of tremor in the absence of other neurologic signs and its heritable nature. By the early 20th century, the term began to appear in the medical literature with greater frequency.

Conclusions: Toward the end of the 19th century, several clinicians attempted to provide a nosologic separation for a tremor diathesis that was often familial and occurred in isolation of other neurologic signs. This disorder, which was termed essential tremor, was later recognized as one of the most common neurologic disorders.

Disclosure: The authors report no disclosures.

Received February 22, 2008. Accepted in final form June 3, 2008.