Bernhard A Kats, Ben Gurion University, Beersheva, Israel
14 May 2005
My Groups MDOET · ET2005
From: "Bernhard A Kats" <quibi02@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat May 14, 2005 8:17 am
Several patients have reported to me worsening of tremor activity when crossing several
time-zones from East to West, like flying from Europe to the US. This change occurs gradually in the course of 48 hours, regardless of the season. When flying home from West to East, the tremor improves in a few hours.
This suggests involvement of the hypothalamus, specifically the suprachiasmatic nucleus or biological "clock", that controls the body's circadian rhythms.
Questions:
Could a melatonin agonist like the research drug LY 156735 speed up this readaptation time?
Or could targeting genes that encode the proteins governing circadian rhythms
and that affect this adaptability yield new treatments for ET and other disorders of
circadian rhythm?
Competing interests
None declared
Reply to Professor Kats' query
Roberto Refinetti, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Circadian Rhythms
15 May 2005
Professor Halberg, as the author of the referenced article, may have a different answer, but my feeling is that more information about the problem is needed before a solution can be sought. In principle, the desynchrony between the circadian clock and the outside clock caused by transmeridian travel could have many effects, including the reported worsening of tremor activity. However, the fact that the tremor improves in a few hours upon return home suggests that circadian desynchrony is not the central issue. More likely, the worsening of tremor activity is an acute effect of the trip (pressure changes in the airplane, change in weather from origin to destination, air-borne allergens, etc.). As for the question of whether targeting genes that encode the proteins governing circadian rhythms could yield new treatments for disorders of circadian rhythm, the answer is certainly "yes", although any such treatment is many years (probably decades) in the future.
circadian tremor-activating mechanism in ET
Bernhard A Kats, Ben Gurion University, Beersheva, Israel
14 May 2005
My Groups MDOET · ET2005
From: "Bernhard A Kats" <quibi02@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat May 14, 2005 8:17 am
Several patients have reported to me worsening of tremor activity when crossing several
time-zones from East to West, like flying from Europe to the US. This change occurs gradually in the course of 48 hours, regardless of the season. When flying home from West to East, the tremor improves in a few hours.
This suggests involvement of the hypothalamus, specifically the suprachiasmatic nucleus or biological "clock", that controls the body's circadian rhythms.
Questions:
Could a melatonin agonist like the research drug LY 156735 speed up this readaptation time?
Or could targeting genes that encode the proteins governing circadian rhythms
and that affect this adaptability yield new treatments for ET and other disorders of
circadian rhythm?
Competing interests
None declared
Reply to Professor Kats' query
Roberto Refinetti, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Circadian Rhythms
15 May 2005
Professor Halberg, as the author of the referenced article, may have a different answer, but my feeling is that more information about the problem is needed before a solution can be sought. In principle, the desynchrony between the circadian clock and the outside clock caused by transmeridian travel could have many effects, including the reported worsening of tremor activity. However, the fact that the tremor improves in a few hours upon return home suggests that circadian desynchrony is not the central issue. More likely, the worsening of tremor activity is an acute effect of the trip (pressure changes in the airplane, change in weather from origin to destination, air-borne allergens, etc.). As for the question of whether targeting genes that encode the proteins governing circadian rhythms could yield new treatments for disorders of circadian rhythm, the answer is certainly "yes", although any such treatment is many years (probably decades) in the future.
Competing interests
None declared