Page 1 of 1
Meaning of 16 HZ?
Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:47 pm
by J.M.
I went back to my neurologist on Friday and after having an EMG test, he told me that I definitely have OT. After seeing him in Sept. he tried me out on the medication, Sinemet [Apo.Lvocard], which didn't seem to do any good; so I stopped taking them as he had told me to do if they didn't helped. I told him that I would prefer to be drug free for a while yet, instead of trying something else. He said that if that medication didn't helped, that he didn't think anything else would. My tremor is 16 HZ. I was wondering if that means 16 tremors a minute or what does it means
Hz - Hertz
Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:05 pm
by admin
hi JM,
Hz (Hertz) relates to oscillations (tremors) per second, here's some info on Hz and how it relates to tremors, and the link to the full article is below the quoted text, the article is a little older so the treatments discussed may be dated but the info about Hz seems clear:
"The frequency and amplitude of a tremor vary to the degree that the tremor may be hardly noticeable or severely disabling. Frequency can be divided into three categories of oscillations per second: slow (3 to 5 Hz), intermediate (5 to 8 Hz) or rapid (9 to 12 Hz).3 Amplitude may be classified as fine, medium or coarse, depending on the displacement produced by the tremor about the fixed plane.3 A coarse tremor has a large displacement, whereas a fine tremor is barely noticeable. Tremor may be unifocal, multifocal or generalized, and may affect the head, face, jaw, voice, tongue, trunk or extremities."
"Orthostatic tremor is defined as a postural tremor of the legs, occurring at a frequency of 13 to 18 Hz,"
http://www.aafp.org/afp/990315ap/1565.html
Progression
Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:29 am
by Barbara and George Isham
My husband, George has the OT-it was diagnosed about 4 years ago at 18MHG. the Dr went bonkers in his office-he had never seen anything so high. My husband is now sitting down to teach all his college classes and last week I think was our biggest scare. He had a very rough day walking all over, having to do registration and then walking to the other side of campus to purchase a book only to find they moved the book store! When all was done we decided to go out for dinner and he could not get the fork to his mouth with food on it! After sitting for about 20 minutes and eating with his left hand he started to clam down and switch to his right hand again.
We were told this was progressive-but this episode really scared us. 
Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 2:08 pm
by gloria
Barbara & George: It has been a number of years since we have heard from you and how you have been coping with the bane of OT in your life. However this recent episode is probably not a sign of progression per se but rather part of the "good day or bad day syndrome" that we all experience in some way or another but can not explain. Sometimes I think it is reaction to suppressed stress. Gloria