Abstract
Background: Current data suggest that the 2 common tremor disorders, essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD), may be associated with one another. Familial aggregation studies allow one to further explore their relatedness. Methods: Probands with ET (n = 110), PD (n = 130) or both ET and PD (n = 27) and control probands (n = 177) reported whether they had relatives with these diseases or with nonspecific tremor. Results: A greater proportion of ET probands than control probands reported relatives with ET (30.0 vs. 2.8%, p < 0.001), non-specific tremor (38.2 vs. 13.6%, p < 0.001) and both ET and PD in different relatives (6.4 vs. 0.6%, p = 0.004). A greater proportion of PD probands than control probands reported relatives with PD (20.0 vs. 8.5%, p = 0.003), ET (11.5 vs. 2.8%, p = 0.002) and both ET and PD in different relatives (6.9 vs. 0.6%, p = 0.002). Conclusions: This study provides evidence for the aggregation of ET in ET families and PD in PD families, and the familial co-aggregation of ET and PD.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 31-36 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Neuroepidemiology |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2016 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Essential tremor
- Familial aggregation
- Genetic epidemiology
- Neurodegeneration
- Parkinson's disease
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
- Clinical Neurology