Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get StartedRisk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffThe inherited variety of essential tremor is an autosomal dominant disorder, which means that a defective gene from just one parent is needed to pass on the condition. If you have a parent with a genetic mutation for essential tremor, you have a 50 percent chance of developing the disorder yourself. The only other known risk factor is older age.