What is Tourette’s syndrome? What are its clinical manifestations?

  The tics are sudden, involuntary, rapid movements or vocalizations that occur repeatedly and in the same manner, and the symptoms include: (1) the presence of multiple motor tics and one or sometimes multiple vocal tics during the course of the illness, but not necessarily at the same time; (2) the presence of multiple tics in a day (usually in bursts), almost daily or intermittently; (3) the frequency, form and location of the tics vary periodically, and their severity may alternate. (3) The frequency, form, and location of the twitches vary periodically, and their severity may alternate, sometimes with complete remission for weeks or even weeks; (4) The onset is before the age of 18 years; (5) No more than 15% of patients exhibit cursing, nasty talk, obscene language, and indistinct verbal abuse, which are the most easily noticed symptoms. (5) Only up to 15% of patients present with cursing, nasty talk, slurs, and slurred verbal abuse, which are the most noticeable symptoms and are often collectively referred to as tic-obscene syndrome.  It is well known that most patients have control over their symptoms and what is not realized is that long twitches, although under conscious control for seconds or even hours, may only have the effect of delaying the onset of more severe twitches. The twitching is irresistible and will eventually manifest itself. Patients are usually able to delay the onset of tics while studying and working, and later seek a secluded place to release their symptoms. In general, twitching increases during stress and anxiety and decreases in relaxed situations or when drawn to an intriguing task.  The diagnosis of the disease is based on observation of symptoms and evaluation of the history of onset, so parents should pay close attention to the child’s usual behavior and ask the teacher to assist at the same time. There are no blood tests or other neurological tests to diagnose the disease, but EEG, CT, MRI or certain tests can be used to rule out diseases that may be confused with the disease, such as pediatric ADHD, and test scales can be used to assess the severity of the tics.  The child’s tics are sudden, involuntary, rapid movements or vocalizations that occur in the same way repeatedly. There are two types of tics: simple and complex.  Simple tics include: (1) motor tics: blinking, eyebrow squeezing, head shaking, shoulder shrugging, making strange sounds, etc.; (2) vocal tics: clearing the throat, screaming, snorting, flicking the tongue, etc.  Complex tics mainly include: motor tics such as jumping, touching others and objects, sniffing and spinning, and rarely self-injury.  Diagnosis requires that the above symptoms do not necessarily occur at the same time, that multiple episodes can occur in 1 day, that they can occur daily or intermittently, that the history lasts for 1 year, that the onset occurs before the age of 18, and that the tics can alternate between remission and severity.  In conclusion, the diagnosis of this disease requires information from teachers and parents.  Children with this disease are often associated with behavioral abnormalities, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning difficulties, sleep disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, aggressive behavior, conduct problems, and inappropriate sexual behavior.