What disease is the hand tremor a sign of? The cause of hand tremor

It is normal for the elderly to have hand tremors, but it is different for young people. Once this symptom appears, it indicates that a certain disease is about to occur. The most common ones are Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's syndrome, and essential tremor.

1. Parkinson's disease, also known as Parkinson's disease . It is a central nervous system disease caused by problems with the substantia nigra in the brain, resulting in involuntary shaking when the patient is at rest.

The substantia nigra is located in the midbrain. It is composed of a group of neurons containing melanin. Because these cells appear dark to the naked eye, they are named "substantia nigra". The substantia nigra of a healthy person can produce a substance called "dopamine", which can inhibit the excitatory effect of acetylcholine. Under normal circumstances, the two restrain each other and maintain various physiological functions of the human body in balance. When the cells in the substantia nigra undergo pathological changes, the synthesis of dopamine decreases, and then the function of inhibiting acetylcholine decreases. At this time, although the content of acetylcholine has not increased, it is

When the "opponent" is at a disadvantage, the excitatory effect of acetylcholine is relatively enhanced. The result of the imbalance between the two is "tremor paralysis". The patient's limbs generally tremble regularly, about 4 to 8 times per second, and the tremors are often severe when not active. In addition to shaking, there are also symptoms such as stiff limbs and difficulty in movement. If left untreated, the condition will gradually worsen. In severe cases, the patient cannot even turn over in bed, cannot stand up after sitting down, and cannot take a step after standing up. Parkinson's disease usually shows no abnormalities in brain CT and MRI examinations, and functional brain imaging PET can be used for auxiliary diagnosis.

2. Parkinson's syndrome . There is another type of disease that is similar to Parkinson's disease and is caused by certain organic diseases, such as encephalitis, cerebrovascular and brain tumors, and craniocerebral trauma. In addition to hand tremors, patients also have various symptoms of the primary disease. For example, encephalitis may cause fever, cerebrovascular disease may cause limb paralysis, brain tumors may cause headaches and vomiting, and craniocerebral trauma may cause a history of trauma and impaired consciousness. For Parkinson's syndrome, as long as the primary disease is treated actively, the symptoms will be alleviated or disappear.

3. Essential tremor, also known as benign senile tremor, essential tremor or familial tremor. More than 60% of patients with this type of hand tremor have a family history, and it mostly occurs in middle-aged and elderly people. The main manifestation is hand tremors when performing actions, most of which can involve the upper limbs, mandible or head, but lower limb tremors rarely occur. The symptoms are generally mild in the early stage of the disease, and the condition gradually worsens and may affect daily life and activities, especially when doing various actions, the hands shake noticeably, such as cooking, holding chopsticks, drinking water, writing, unlocking, etc., the hands shake violently, or even cannot complete these actions at all. Some patients also experience changes in the tone and voice of their speech. Hand tremors will worsen when you are emotionally unstable, mentally stressed or tired, but drinking can temporarily relieve hand tremors. Neurological examination showed no abnormalities except hand tremors. Currently, the most common treatment method is Western medicine.

"Treating the symptoms but not the root cause" is very likely to lead to relapse.

4. Cervical spondylosis. Due to local nerve compression, symptoms such as numbness and trembling of the fingers often appear; hyperthyroidism in the elderly is generally manifested by increased appetite and weight loss, slightly bulging and bright eyes, but a few people only show trembling when the upper limbs are stretched out; trembling hands may also be a precursor to cerebral stroke.