Essential tremor.
BACKGROUND
Essential tremor is one of the most common movement disorders throughout the world, with prevalence in the general population of 0.4-3.9%. Although most people with essential tremor are only mildly affected, those who seek medical care are disabled to some extent, and most are socially handicapped by the tremor.


METHODS
We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical question: What are the effects of drug treatments in people with essential tremor of the hand? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library and other important databases up to December 2006 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).


RESULTS
We found 41 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.


CONCLUSIONS
In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: adding mirtazepine to other antitremor drugs; benzodiazepines; beta-blockers other than propranolol; botulinum A toxin-haemagglutinin complex; calcium channel blockers; carbonic anhydrase inhibitors; clonidine; flunarizine; gabapentin; isoniazid; Phenobarbital; primidone; propranolol; and topiramate.
Ferreira
Joaquim Jos
JJ
Instituto de Farmacologia e Teraputica Geral Lisbon School of Medicine University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
Sampaio
Cristina
C
D004311:Double-Blind Method; D020329:Essential Tremor / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D011324:Primidone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011433:Propranolol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014202:Tremor / Q000188:drug therapy
D011324:Primidone; D011433:Propranolol