Tremor Gram – November 2025

Caregiver Shares Her Story

Caregivers provide such important support to people with debilitating conditions, like essential tremor (ET). From carrying plates of food to filling out forms, or just providing calm and reassuring words, caregivers help make life a little easier.

November is National Family Caregivers Month, a time to recognize the many caregivers in our essential tremor community. Sabrina Pilarski is a caregiver to her husband, Tom. She was kind enough to share her experiences in a blog post which we’ve shared on our website. It’s titled, “For Better or for Worse . . . With Shaking Hands or Steady.”  She talks about how her support during his early days with ET was mostly encouragement, and as the years passed, she “became the pair of hands that did not shake.”

We have a number of other helpful tools on our Resources for Caregivers page, including links to the Rosalyn Carter Institute for Caregivers.

Consider a Gift to the IETF This #GivingTuesday

December 2 is #GivingTuesday. It’s a global generosity movement that takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving following the consumer-focused shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It encourages people to give back through volunteer efforts and donating to organizations that help make a difference.

We encourage you to think about the International Essential Tremor Foundation (IETF) when you participate in #GivingTuesday. The IETF exists to provide hope and support to people impacted by essential tremor, and it would not exist without the support of those who give. Approximately 82% of our revenue comes from direct donor contributions.

 ET support groups, college scholarships, research grants, virtual education events and podcasts, find-a-physician database, Tremor Talk magazine . . . these are just a few of the resources funded by your donations to the IETF.

Praxis Announces Positive Results from Essential3 Program

Praxis is excited to share that we recently announced positive results from our Essential3 program for patients treated with ulixacaltamide. This is the first positive Phase 3 program for a drug in development for essential tremor (ET). The results highlight the potential of ulixacaltamide to be the first treatment designed for people with ET and mark an important advancement for the ET community.   

 We are especially grateful to everyone who has participated in the Essential3 program and to all the ET advocates, community members and families whose voices inform our daily work. We recognize the urgent need for more and better treatment options, and we remain committed to making this a reality. 

Praxis is committed to bringing this much-needed medication to the ET community. We will continue to keep the community informed as we engage with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the next steps for the submission of the ulixacaltamide new drug application (NDA), which is the formal application that a company uses to ask the FDA to approve a new medicine.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at patientadvocacy@praxismedicines.com.

Treating Hand Tremors with the Cala TAPS Therapy

Our latest Essential Tremor Virtual Education Event is, “Treating Hand Tremors with Cala TAPS Therapy.” It focuses on the Cala kIQ System – the science behind it, how it is used, and how people with essential tremor (ET) can get access to this therapy.

Tune in on your phone, computer or tablet as Alex Kent, VP of Research at Cala Health, talks about this wrist-worn device similar to a wrist watch, that delivers TAPS Therapy (Transcutaneous Afferent Patterned Stimulation) non-invasively.

On average, a 40-minute stimulation session will deliver relief for over 90 minutes after the session. Therapy is suggested for daily use.

Cala kIQ is available only through a prescription. Patients can access it through the VA or their primary care provider, neurologist or occupational therapist. Coverage is also available through Medicare for qualifying patients.

Patients can download a free Cala kIQ guide to share with their doctor.

Research Study Recruitment

Study of Familial Characteristics of ET with Identical Twins

Dr. Elan Louis and his team of tremor researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) are conducting a new study of familial characteristics of essential tremor (ET). They need help from the ET community. If you have ET and have an identical (monozygotic) twin sister/brother with ET, please contact the UTSW researchers at the following email address: tremor@utsouthwestern.edu

Please include your contact information in your message (including your name, telephone, and mailing address) and the preferred way to contact you.

Both you and your identical twin sister/brother would be interested in answering questions about your tremor and provide us with a videotape performing daily tasks like using a spoon or drinking from a glass (instructions will be provided).

You and your sibling may live anywhere in the United States and still qualify to participate; all interviews will be conducted via phone and mail.

Physiologic Correlates of Vocal Tremor Affecting Those with Essential Tremor

Two Locations:

• University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
• Mass Eye & Ear, Boston, MA

Essential tremor is one of the most common movement disorders in the world. Approximately 30% of these individuals exhibit a vocal tremor, with the majority being female. This study will evaluate mechanisms of vocal tremor and their effects on communication, with the goal of advancing current and future treatments.

Eligible participants must have essential tremor and vocal tremor and be willing to travel to Utah or Massachusetts (compensation and travel included).

For the Utah study, please contact Jessica Ku (Clinical Research Coordinator) at Jessica.ku@hsc.utah.edu

For the Massachusetts study, please contact the Simonyan Lab at simonyan_lab@meei.harvard.edu