Dr Kevin So

“The advanced treatment offers new hope for people afflicted with essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease who face limited treatment options,” Dr So said.

“Our hope is that this research will support the thousands of Australians who develop tremor to access advanced, non-invasive radiation treatment which improves their quality of life.”

As many as one in 32 people aged between 40 and 60 and one in 18 people aged over 65 are affected by essential tremor across the globe, while 65% of people with Parkinson’s experience tremor at some point during the progression of their disease.

For these people, the involuntary shaking and trembling of parts of their body can be distressing and debilitating in their daily life; often affecting the ability to perform simple tasks like writing, eating, dressing and self-care.

Conventional treatment for tremor within the clinical trial setting involves deep brain stimulation, an invasive surgical procedure that places electrodes or needles into the central part of the brain and a stimulator into the chest wall.

The TREMOR trial means eligible Australians with essential tremor or tremor dominant Parkinson’s will now be able to access this cutting-edge, non-invasive radiation therapy clinical trial.

The TREMOR study, currently supported by Icon Cancer Foundation, was originally established with funding from Epworth Medical Foundation and the EJ Whitten Foundation.