On paralysis agitans : with an account of the clinical features of other forms of tremor / by R. T. Williamson.

  • Williamson, R. T. (Richard Thomas), 1862-1937.
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: On paralysis agitans : with an account of the clinical features of other forms of tremor / by R. T. Williamson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    time to time. Later the tremor increased and all the symptoms of paralysis agitans developed. A similar case is reported by Hillairet. Merger mentions the case of a girl, aged 17, in whom the disease developed after a fright. A man was run over and killed before her eyes, tremor commenced in the right hand on the spot; gradually the tremor extended over the right arm, and later the legs were affected : all the signs of paralysis agitans developed. Hunt reports the case of a female aged 73, in which the tremor appeared soon after a severe nervous strain caused by the anxiety of nursing a sick relative. Sir Wm. Gowers records the following cases :—A man was wakened by a bell on account of a fire ; for a year and a half the same bell always caused transient tremor, which then became permanent, and passed into the typical form of paralysis agitans. A woman aged 37 was sitting quietly at work when a stream of water suddenly flowed from a tap on to her left wrist, she was much startled, the left arm immediately began to shake, and the tremor persisted, passing to the leg and afterwards to the limbs on the opposite side. A year later she presented all the characters of the disease in its typical form. Charcot records the following case The patient’s husband was one of the Garde Municipale and fought against the insurgents in 1832. Having seen her husband’s horse return riderless to the barracks she received a great shock, dreading some disaster. That very day she began to tremble, and the shaking, which at first was localised to the right hand, extending gradually, invaded each of the other members in succession. Heimann states that excitement, trouble, and sorrow are frequently regarded as the cause. In three out of 19 cases which he records the symptoms followed depressing mental emotions : in one, the disease followed great anger. Collins and Muskin mentions seven cases in which the disease was attributed to mental shock, anxiety, or worry of various kinds. Sir Wm. Gowers states that a history of prolonged mental emotion is obtained in about half of the cases. Ordenstein obtained a history of mental shock or anxiety in one-fourth of his cases. An analysis which I have made,of the history of 112 unselected cases of paralysis agitans (collected from medical literature) shows that in seven cases the tremor first appeared after a severe fright, and other symptoms of the disease developed later. In 12 cases the symptoms followed mental anxiety, grief, and worry. Thus in 19 out of 112 cases there was a well marked history of mental shock or anxiety. Amongst 100 cases, Krafft-Ebing found that the disease followed psychical trauma in 22. Sir Wm. Gowers points out that sudden alarm may cause general tremor, so that the verb “ to tremble ” is in process of conversion into a synonym with “to fear.” “Usually the tremor