1-Octanol to Treat Essential Tremor

This study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the food additive 1-octanol for treating essential tremor. This disorder, which is an involuntary shaking, usually of the hands, has no satisfactory treatment. It affects more than one of every 100 people in the general population, with the figure climbing to nearly 4 in every hundred among people over 40 years old. In animal studies, 1-octanol reduced chemically induced tremors in rats. This study will test the effects of the accepted daily intake of 1-octanol (1 milligram per kilogram of body weight) on essential tremor in humans.

Patients with essential tremor 21 years old and older who wish to enroll in this study will undergo eligibility screening with a medical history and physical examination that includes tests for thyroid, liver and kidney problems. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either 1-octanol or a placebo (an inactive substance). Patients in both groups will have an intravenous catheter (a thin, plastic tube) placed in an arm vein for collecting blood samples during the study. Those in the 1-octanol group will be given a 1-octanol capsule; the placebo group will receive a look-alike capsule containing no active ingredient. Neither the patient nor the doctor will know which patients are taking 1-octanol or placebo until the end of the study.

Tremors will be measured once before the catheter is placed, every 15 minutes during the first 2 hours after taking the capsule, twice during the third hour (30 minutes apart), and once again after 5 hours. The tremors are measured using procedures called accelerometry and surface electromyography. For these procedures, electrodes are taped to the skin; needles are not used. Blood samples will be collected once before taking the capsule, every 15 minutes for the first hour and a half after taking the capsule and again at 2 hours, 4 hours and 5 hours after taking the capsule. Vital signs (blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory rate) will be measured every 15 minutes during the first 2 hours of taking the capsule, every 30 minutes during the third hour, and again at 4 hours and 5 hours.

Participants will stay in the hospital overnight for observation and return after 3 days for a follow-up physical examination, including a blood test.