INTRODUCTION
Ever heard of TOURETTE SYNDROME?
This syndrome is a neurological brain condition. The main signs of Tourette Syndrome are motor and vocal tics.
Tourette Syndrome was first described in the 19th . Century by a neurologist, Gilles de la Tourette. The symptoms can range from mild to severe. In the UK, it is thought to affect about 1% of the population. We know that it affects more boys than girls, although we do not yet know why. It affects all races and ethnic groups equally.
What is Tourette Syndrome?
Tourette's syndrome is a problem with the nervous system that causes people to make sudden movements or sounds that they can't control called tics,
What Are Tics?
Tics are repeated sounds, movements, or sudden twitches that can’t be stopped or restricted by the ones affected. It comes unconsciously and unwelcome. For example, someone can repeatedly blink his or her eyes, shrug the shoulders, sniff, or blurt out unusual sounds.
They do these things unwillingly. It is just like having hiccups or having urges to either sneeze or yawn. It cannot be stopped or restricted.
There are two types of Tics which I would like us to take a look at.
Types Of Tics
Motor Tics
Vocal Tics
MOTOR TICS
Motor Tics are tics that involve the movements of the body and examples of such tics or movements are: shrugging the shoulders, blinking, or jerking an arm, rolling of eyes, grimacing, jerking of the head or other limbs, jumping, twirling, touching objects and other people, etc.
VOCAL TICS
Vocal Tics has to do with the production of sound. People affected tend to make unusual sounds with their voices. Examples of vocal tics are: humming, clearing the throat, or yelling out a word or phrase, grunting, whistling, coughing, animal sounds, saying random words and phrases, repeating a sound, word or phrase, tongue clicking, etc.
NOTE: Tics can either be simple or complex.
Simple tics involve just a few parts of the body. These sudden, brief, and repetitive tics involve a limited number of muscle groups. Examples of simple tics include squinting the eyes or sniffing nose twitching and mouth movements.
While Complex tics usually involve several different parts of the body and can have a pattern.
These distinct, coordinated patterns of movements involve several muscle groups. Examples of complex tics are; bobbing the head while jerking an arm and then jumping up, touching or smelling objects, bending or twisting, hopping, etc.
CAUSES OF TOURETTE SYNDROME?
The cause of Tourette's syndrome is unknown. It's thought to be linked to a part of the brain that helps regulate body movements. It's a complex disorder likely caused by a combination of inherited (genetic) and environmental factors. Chemicals in the brain that transmit nerve impulses (neurotransmitters), including dopamine and serotonin, might play a role.
Being an inherited genetic condition means it is passed from parents to offspring through their genes.
People who have family members with Tourette's are more likely to get it themselves. But people in the same family may have different symptoms.
For unknown reasons, boys are more likely to be affected by Tourette's syndrome than girls.
SYMPTOMPS OF TOURETTE SYNDROME
The major or main symptoms of Tourette are tics either motor or vocal which I mentioned and talked about earlier. Symptoms usually begin when a child is 5 to 10 years of age. The first symptoms often are motor tics that occur in the head and neck area. I also mentioned few examples of motor tics.
The types of tics and how often a person has tics change a lot over time. Even though the symptoms might appear, disappear, and reappear, these conditions are considered chronic.
In most cases, tics decrease during adolescence and early adulthood and sometimes disappear entirely. However, many people with TS experience tics into adulthood, and, in some cases, tics can become worse during adulthood.
Although the media often portray people with TS as involuntarily shouting out swear words (called coprolalia) or constantly repeating the words of other people (called echolalia), these symptoms are rare and are not required for a diagnosis of TS.
DIAGNOSIS
I am sure, some questions like; can TS be diagnosed or tested would be asked and I am here to answer those questions.
There is no single test, like a blood test, to diagnose TS. But one can be diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome if he or she has had several tics for at least a year.
Doctors and health personnel look at the person’s symptoms to diagnose TS and other tic disorders. The tics disorders differ from each other in terms of the type of tic present (motor or vocal, or a combination of both), and how long the symptoms have lasted. It is the period the tics have lasted that would make one be diagnosed of Tourette Syndrome and it must be at least for a period of one year.
We will further look into this work in the next part so stay tuned!
