Maine’s Susan Collins reveals she’s long been diagnosed with a benign tremor

Maine Senator Susan Collins revealed on Tuesday that she has long been diagnosed with a benign essential tremor that causes her head and hands to shake, but she claims it hasn’t impacted her ability to do her job nor was it a sign of a deeper neurological issue.

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“The tremor is occasionally inconvenient, and sometimes the subject of cruel comments online, but it does not hinder my ability to work and, as I said, is something that I have lived with for decades,” said Collins, 73, in a statement provided to the Globe.

The news of her condition was first reported by Maine television station WCSH on Wednesday night.

Collins, a Republican, is running for reelection this year fora sixth term in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate elections. It’s a key contest that will determine which party controls the Senate in the final two years of Trump’s term.

After Maine Governor Janet Mills dropped out of the Democratic primary last week, essentially handing the nomination to her chief rival Graham Platner, both Collins and Platner began preparing for their general election matchup.

That is also when a number of videos pinged through social media, largely from progressive activists, showing Collins at moments where she shook, including her re-election launch video, and questioned whether she was physically fit to serve.

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WCSH quoted a Mass General Brigham doctor unaffiliated with the campaign who said that about 5 percent of people over 40 have the condition and that it doesn’t lead to Parkinson’s disease or any other serious condition.

Collins said in the statement that she has had the condition the entire time she has served in the Senate. Last fall, she broke the Senate record for the number of consecutive votes she has taken.

Historically, benign medical conditions have rarely become campaign issues. However, in recent years following the health decline of former Senator Diane Feinstein and former President Joe Biden, the voting public has become more attuned to the health conditions of their elected officials. Similar questions have dogged President Trump during his second term.

Meanwhile, her opponent, Platner, 41, has disclosed he has been determined to have full disability and PTSD after his tours in Middle Eastern wars that he also said doesn’t impact his ability to serve in the Senate.

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Jackie Kucinich of Globe staff contributed to this report.