Disease/Disorder: Tourette Syndrome
Common Name: Tourette Syndrome (TS)
Age of Onset: Early symptoms are usually noticed in childhood between the ages of 7 to 10 years.
Duration: TS is a chronic condition with lifelong symptoms, yet for most people the symptoms are worst in their early teens and improve slightly in their later teens and adulthood.
Males/Females/Equal: TS affects males 3 to 4 times more often than females.
Cause: The exact cause of TS is unknown, yet current research has discovered abnormalities in certain brain regions such as the basal ganglia, frontal lobes, and cortex. Also there are abnormalities in the circuits that interconnect these regions and the neurotransmitters responsible for communication between nerve cells (dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine).
Symptoms: Tics are repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations. They can be simple or complex. Simple tics involve a limited number of muscle groups, while complex tics involve several muscle groups. Simple motor tics are sudden, brief, repetitive movements such as eye blinking, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, and head jerking. Simple vocalizations include repetitive throat clearing, sniffing, and grunting. Complex motor tics are distinct, coordinated patterns of movements such as facial grimacing combined with head/shoulder jerking, hoping, jumping, bending, twisting, and inflicting self harm. Complex vocalizations include coprolalia (uttering swear words) and echolalia (repeating the words/phrases of others).
Prognosis (progression of disease): TS is a lifelong condition, yet the severity of tics tends to decrease in the later teen years and early adulthood. TS is not a degenerative disease, so people are expected to have a normal life expectancy.
Treatment Options: No medication completely eliminates the symptoms of TS. Neuroleptics are usually the most useful for tic suppression. Side effects though include sedation, weight gain, and cognitive dulling. Medications such as methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine can be used to lessen the ADHD symptoms seen in people with TS without enhancing the severity of tics. Psychotherapy may also be helpful for people with TS to better cope with their condition.
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