Treatment of Essential Tremor with Metoprolol

Abstract

To the Editor: With reference to the letter from Drs. Britt and Peters,¹ I wish to report my experience with the use of metoprolol, a relatively selective beta-1 antagonist, in 22 patients with essential or familial tremor. The mean duration of the tremor was 21 years (range, three to 40 years) in seven patients with essential tremor and 15 patients with familial tremor. Metoprolol was gradually increased to 50 mg three times a day. A favorable response was obtained in 19 patients during an observation period of four to 12 months (mean, 7.5 months). Three patients were classified as non-responders, . . .