Report from a U.S. conference on essential tremor.
Seventy researchers met in Washington, DC, on 20-21 October 2005 to identify and discuss the most pressing research issues in essential tremor (ET). The conference attendees concluded that the following six objectives are of immediate and overriding importance: (1) a collaborative network of research centers; (2) an international committee for developing a standard protocol for the diagnosis and quantification of ET; (3) the identification of one or more genes for ET; (4) a centralized repository of DNA and, ideally, immortalized cell lines from well-characterized ET families and healthy controls; (5) a reliable and efficient repository of optimally prepared and categorized brain samples for hypothesis-driven neuropathological examinations in well-characterized ET patients; and (6) animal models of ET for screening promising drugs. The conference attendees hope that this statement from the United States will engender international collaboration in finding a cure for ET.
Elble
Rodger J
RJ
Department of Neurology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois 62794, USA. relble@siumed.edu
D003226:Congresses as Topic; D020329:Essential Tremor / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D014481:United States