The symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome (also known as Tourette’s syndrome) are so subdued that many patients do not even realize they have a problem.
What is Tourette’s syndrome?
As with other psychological states, the diagnosis of this syndrome requires the observation of the following symptoms.
1. at least one vocal tic accompanied by at least two motor tics (usually facial tics)
2. the tics begin before the age of 18 years
3. recurrent tics for more than 1 year; no other cause of the symptom is present
4. Symptom presentation Although some patients may have blatant outbursts and swear words, most Tourette’s patients only exhibit less severe tics. These include mainly sounds like muttering, throat clearing, sputtering, and inhaling, as well as blinking, sniffling, grimacing, and shrugging.
5. Some symptoms are more severe: they may suddenly scream and shout at odd times, make bad comments, curse and give the middle finger, etc.
When do the symptoms appear?
Most patients will begin to have symptoms at the age of 5-10, but they usually diminish during adolescence, and many people’s symptoms disappear in adulthood.
How many people have Tourette’s?
It is estimated that Tourette’s affects approximately 1% of the U.S. population, and elsewhere Tourette’s affects approximately 0.2%-0.6% of the population. Boys are 3-5 times more likely to have the disease than girls.
Where did Tourette’s syndrome get its name?
The syndrome was named after the French physician Georges Albert édouard Brutus Gilles de laTourette in the late 19th century, and his mentor Jean-Martin Charcot named the condition after him after his description of the uncontrollable convulsions and behavior of nine patients.
How do you get Tourette’s?
Although the exact cause is unclear, there is evidence that abnormalities in the cortex, frontal lobes, basal ganglia, and the neural pathways that connect to these areas are associated with the disorder. In addition, research suggests that the disorder is heritable and can be passed on to the next generation if one parent has the disorder. However, the researchers have not yet ruled out the possible influence of other memory and environmental factors. In fact, there are theories that Tourette’s may be genetically linked to OCD, but that claim has not been confirmed.
Are there any factors that could trigger the symptoms in question?
People with Tourette’s have given feedback on a variety of food and environmental factors that can exacerbate symptoms. Foods include: artificial sweeteners, food additives, soda, sugar, wheat, yeast, chocolate, and eggs. Other common stimuli include: cleaning products, fatigue, excitement, smoke, flashing lights, noise, mold, stress, and television.
Does an effective treatment exist?
Some patients choose to take neuroleptics to help suppress tics, but this can have a number of side effects, including: weight gain, sluggishness and sedation, as well as other non-random movements, Parkinson’s-like symptoms and tremors.
Many will rely on awareness and masking movements to hide twitch movements, and feedback techniques will also help with attention suppression.
Do patients have trouble with anything other than symptoms?
Distracted and impulsive, patients with Tourette’s will have difficulty concentrating on tasks, so they will struggle in school and the workplace. Educators and supervisors have found that performance greatly improves as soon as Tourette’s patients relieve the tics, and they need a short break to release the tics they have been suppressing.
Others, including delaying time on task, simplifying instructions, and giving verbal directions when writing assignments, can be helpful.