If your hand shakes when you write a note, hold a beverage or dial a phone, you may have essential tremor, a common neurological condition that causes an involuntary trembling of the hands.

Often confused with Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor affects an estimated 10 million people in the U.S., according to the International Essential Tremor Foundation, the Newsmax Health reported.

Yet, despite how widespread it is, especially as people get older, it wasn’t taken all that seriously by the medical community until recently. It wasn’t until last year that essential tremor (ET) was classified as a specific disorder by the World Health Organization. This is an important breakthrough, experts say, because it can lead to improved research protocols and better clinical care for those with the condition.

Essential tremor affects men and women equally and is hereditary in more than 50 percent of cases. Though it is more commonly seen in older adults, ET can occur at any age and it is often progressive.

It most commonly affects the hands, but ET can cause shakiness in the legs and head, or cause a quavering voice. Although alarming, essential tremor is not life threatening.

There aren’t any specific medical tests that are used to diagnose ET. Rather, a diagnosis is made on the basis of a detailed medical history and neurological evaluation that’s designed, in part, to rule out other causes of the tremor.

If your tremor is mild and doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t have to be treated. But if it interferes with your ability to function, medications – such as beta blockers, anti-seizure drugs, and anti-anxiety meds – sometimes work. The problem is that they’re effective only about 50 percent of the time and often have serious side effects.

Now, there are two newer options that appear promising.

One is something called MRI-guided gamma knife radiation treatment, which uses cobalt beams to deliver a precise dose of radiation to the thalamus, a tiny area of the brain that controls some involuntary movements.

A new MRI-guided high-intensity ultrasound technique is also showing success in treating ET. The technique uses concentrated ultrasound waves to create selective damage to a part of the brain that may contribute to the cause of tremor. Although this sounds scary, so far the treatment seems safe with few side effects reported.