Tourette Syndrome Health Article

Definition

Tourette syndrome (TS) is an inherited neurological disorder that typically appears in childhood. The main features of TS are repeated movements and vocalizations called tics. TS can also be associated with behavioral and developmental problems.

Description

Tourette syndrome is a variable disorder with onset in childhood. Though symptoms can appear anywhere between the ages of two and 18, typical onset is around age six or seven. Tics, which may be motor or vocal, tend to wax and wane (increase and decrease) in severity over time. Facial tics, such as rapid blinking or mouth twitches, are the most common initial sign of TS. Other early symptoms include involuntary sounds such as throat clearing and sniffing, or tics of the limbs. Symptoms usually intensify during teenage years and diminish in late adolescence or early adulthood. Patients may also develop co-occurring behavioral disorders, namely obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or attention deficit disorder (ADD), poor impulse control, and/or sleep disorders. Though some children have learning disabilities, intelligence is not impaired. TS is not degenerative and life span is normal.

Tourette syndrome is classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) as a "Tic Disorder." The International Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) calls TS a "combined vocal and multiple motor tic disorder (de la Tourette's syndrome)." A French neurologist, Jean Marc Itard, described the first known case of Tourette syndrome in the 1825. He had recorded the ticcing and cursing behavior of an aristocratic woman, Madame de Dampierre. The disorder is named for another French physician, Georges Gilles de la Tourette, who reported a series of cases in 1885, the primary example of which was the marquise. Tourette syndrome may also be referred to as Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS).

Demographics

Tourette syndrome occurs worldwide, in people of all racial and ethnic groups. It is thought that approximately 200,000 people in the United States have TS. About three-quarters of patients are males. Once thought to be a rare disorder, TS is one of the most common genetic conditions. Recent estimates of prevalence suggest that TS occurs in one in 1,000 to one in 100 male children. One report indicated that prevalence may be as high as 25% in children in special education classes.