The effect of alcohol on essential tremor.
Five patients with essential tremor had a dramatic diminution in tremor amplitude within 15 minutes of ingesting small doses of ethyl alcohol. The same patients were given equivalent amounts of ethyl alcohol infused into a brachial artery, and there was no decrease in tremor amplitude in the perfused limb. It is concluded that, in patients with essential tremor, ethanol acts in a specific fashion on sensitive structures within the central nervous system and has no effect on peripheral tremorogenic mechanisms. This provides additional evidence for a central mechanism in essential tremor, distinguishing it from other tremors arising primarily from oscillation in peripheral servo-loops.
D000284:Administration, Oral; D001916:Brachial Artery; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects; D003864:Depression, Chemical; D004576:Electromyography; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007269:Injections, Intra-Arterial; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000187:drug effects; D014202:Tremor / Q000503:physiopathology*
D000431:Ethanol