Semiquantitative study of current coffee, caffeine, and ethanol intake in essential tremor cases and controls

Abstract

There are several reasons to study caffeine, coffee, and ethanol intake in essential tremor (ET) patients. ET patients also might modify their use of these beverages because of their effects on tremor. Intake of caffeine, coffee, and ethanol has not been quantified in a group of ET patients. Our objective is to use a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire to compare current daily intake of coffee, caffeine, and ethanol in ET patients and controls. A total of 130 ET cases were patients at the Neurological Institute of New York, and 175 controls were ascertained by random digit dialing. Caffeine (in milligrams) and ethanol (in grams) intake were calculated from a semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Mean daily caffeine intake in patients was 138.4 versus 246.6 mg in controls; medians were 101.1 versus 175.5 mg (P < 0.001). Mean daily ethanol intake in patients was 8.2 versus 6.2 gm in controls; medians were 2.4 versus 1.9 gm (P = 0.89). Cases drank less coffee than controls, but drank similar amounts of tea, soft drinks, fruit juices, and milk. Daily caffeine intake was not correlated with tremor severity or duration. ET patients consumed less caffeine than did controls, which is likely to be a dietary modification in response to tremor. The observation that caffeine consumption was not correlated with tremor severity raises the additional possibility that lower caffeine consumption in ET patients may not exclusively be a response to tremor. A prospective study is needed to explore whether decreased caffeine consumption is a risk factor for ET.

Blood harmane concentrations and dietary protein consumption in essential tremor

“…As reported previously, 41 patients with ET consumed less caffeine than did controls, which is likely to be a dietary modification in response to tremor. The intake of ethanol did not differ between patients with ET and controls.…”

“…The intake of ethanol did not differ between patients with ET and controls. As noted previously, 41 this may be a function of the age of our sample; many older individuals refrain from the use of ethanol for a variety of reasons, including its contraindication in the setting of numerous medications; as a result, alcohol consumption diminishes with age.…”

Environmental Risk Factors for Essential Tremor

“…However, they found higher blood lead levels in patients with ET [9]. This group also reported similar current average consumption of ethanol in ET and controls [11] and increased levels of harmane and harmine (β-carboline alkaloids) in patients with ET [12]. More recently, they have found similar serum concentrations of 6 types of organochlorine pesticides and no differences in past occupational exposure to these toxins in 136 ET patients and 144 control subjects [13].…”

<i>CYP2C19</i> Polymorphism and Risk for Essential Tremor

“…Although it has been suggested that some environmental factors could play a role in the risk for ET [3, 5,22,23,24,25,26,27,28], a reported family history is frequently associated with this disease [1,2,3]. To date, reports on the possible role of genetic polymorphisms in the risk for ET are scarce.…”

“…Abnormalities of CYP polymorphisms should theoretically contribute to increasing the susceptibility to development of ET in patients exposed to some environmental factors that, according to current studies, could also be associated with the risk for this disease [3, 5,22,23,24,25,26,27,28]. In summary, our results suggest that heterozygosis for CYP2C19 * 1/CYP2C19 * 2 is associated with the risk for ET, although it does not have influence on the age at onset of the tremor, the presentation of acute side effects of primidone, or the existence of head, voice, tongue or chin tremor.…”