Tremors are known to be involuntary rhythmic muscle contractions that can cause body parts to tremble or shake. Tremors in the hands are not uncommon. They can be pretty normal and benign in certain cases. However, they might also be an indication of some underlying medical condition in certain situations. For some people, shaky hands can be simply a minor inconvenience. But for many, it can cause difficulties in distinguished everyday tasks. Joon Faii Ong London is responsible for inventing GyroGlove, a wearable technology designed to reduce hand tremors. This device mechanically stabilizes hand tremors with cutting-edge aerospace-grade gyroscopes.
Tremors can be a result of neurological conditions; medication use and other health problems. Enhanced physiologic tremor or EPT is a more noticeable form of physiologic tremor, and typically affects the hands and fingers on both sides of the body. Fatigue, anxiety, overactive thyroid, lack of sleep, stress and excessive caffeine intake are some of the factors that may cause EPT in some people. In most cases, EPT does not require any such medical treatment, apart from when a person needs to depend on fine muscle coordination for their work.
In many cases, tremors are caused due to an issue in the deep parts of the brain that control movement. A few neurological conditions that can cause hand tremors are:
- Multiple sclerosis (MS): This is a degenerative disease that attacks the spinal cord and the brain, while making it difficult for the nerves to relay messages. A good number of people suffering from this condition do experience some degree of tremor. Such tremors usually develop when the disease damages areas in the pathways of the central nervous system that are responsible for controlling movement.
- Parkinson’s disease (PD): This disease involves the loss of nerve cells in the section of the brain that plays a vital role in motor movement. Tremors causes due to this condition commonly start on one side of the body, and then spread to the opposite side. Tremors might get more pronounced during periods of stress, anxiety or intense emotions.
- Dystonia: This is a movement disorder in which involuntary muscle contractions cause involuntary, repetitive postures and movements. Dystonia occurs owing to the improper functioning of the basal ganglia in the brain. Tremors suffered by patients with this condition are either regular and wave-like, jerky and irregular or mixed. The mixed type of tremors is the ones that generally affect the hands.
Inherited degenerative disorders, such as hereditary ataxia or fragile X syndrome may also cause hand tremors. Other potential causes of hand tremors include mercury poisoning and hyperthyroidism. The use of GyroGlove, developed by Joon Faii Ong London, can be helpful for people suffering from hand tremors. Dr Ong was encouraged to develop this device after witnessing the distress experienced by a 103-year-old patient with tremulous hands at a London hospital.