The International Essential Tremor Foundation Funds Ground-Breaking Research

• 

The IETF is funding three ET research grants made possible from its own members, people directly affected by this life-altering condition

Lenexa, Kansas (PRWEB) May 13, 2014

The International Essential Tremor Foundation (IETF) will fund three essential tremor (ET) research grants totaling $85,000 this year. Grant funding was provided to the IETF from its own members, people directly affected by this life-altering condition.

The IETF will award $25,000 to the study entitled “The Role of Excitotoxicity in Essential Tremor Cerebellum.” The goal of this research is to investigate the role of excitotoxicity in the postmortem ET cerebellum. Excitotoxicity is the pathological process by which nerve cells are damaged and killed by excessive stimulation by neurotransmitters. It has been a suggested approach for ET, however there has yet to be any direct evidence that excitotoxicity plays a role in ET patients. Researchers propose to test this hypothesis by examining the number of excitatory synapses (structures that permit a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another cell) and the levels of excitotoxicity markers in the cerebellum. This will be the key step to understanding the process of cerebellar degenerative process in ET. The study will be conducted by Dr. Sheng-Han Kuo at the Essential Tremor Centralized Brain Repository, New York Brain Bank, Columbia University, NY.

The second study awarded $25,000 from the IETF is “Cerebello-Thalamo-Cortical Coupling in Essential Tremor: Effects of High-Frequency Cerebellar Stimulation on Brain Activity and Tremor.” Tremor is associated with abnormal activity within different brain regions, particularly the thalamus and cerebellum. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) reverses symptoms of tremor but is an invasive procedure. Transcranial stimulation of the cerebellum may represent a non-invasive therapeutic option for ET patients. Transcranial stimulation (tACS) is a new technique allowing manipulation of rhythmic patterns in the brain’s cortex with externally applied electrical frequencies. To further understand how this treatment provokes tremor reduction, they will analyze the brain neuronal activity in other ET patients who are candidates for DBS by using electric current recordings of the thalamus, cerebellum and cortex. The study will be conducted by Dr. Marie-Laure Welter at Groupe Hospitalier Pitié -Salpêtrière in Paris.

The final study, “A Feasibility Study for an Essential Tremor Brain Bank at the Arizona Study of Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders” will be awarded $35,000. Now in its third IETF-funded year, researchers will continue to examine the brain tissue of those with ET and other neurological disorders after death, searching for a greater understanding of how ET changes the features of the brain, and hopefully leading to more effective diagnostic tools. They will also compare the clinical findings of early onset ET and ET beginning after age 65. Researchers will examine all brain areas using previous standardized assessments with the goal to explore whether there are any brain regions that may have been overlooked in smaller surveys in the past. This study will be conducted by Dr. Holly Shill and Dr. Charles Adler at Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Tucson, Ariz.

Essential tremor, a neurological movement disorder commonly referred to as “ET”, affects nearly 10 million people in the U.S. alone. ET is very frequently misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease. The condition is often characterized by rhythmic, involuntary and uncontrollable shaking of the hands and arms during movement, but it sometimes can also affect the head, voice, legs and trunk.

About the International Essential Tremor Foundation:
Headquartered in Lenexa, KS, and founded in 1988, the International Essential Tremor Foundation is the leading organization in the world dedicated to those affected by essential tremor. The mission of the IETF is to fund research that will find the cause of essential tremor and lead to better treatments and a cure, increase awareness about ET, and provide educational materials, tools and support to healthcare providers, the public, and those directly affected by ET.

The IETF has distributed more than $675,000 in research grants, to fund 27 promising studies, in the search for the cause of ET. The Foundation has hosted numerous community awareness events across the U.S. to provide those affected with the basic knowledge necessary to become their own advocate when seeking treatment. And, the IETF also provides assistance to a vast network of support groups around the world. To learn more about essential tremor and the IETF mission, visit the IETF website at http://www.essentialtremor.org.

PDF Print