Tourette syndrome

Tourette’s is a neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement tics and at least one vocal tic. In most cases, medication for tics is not necessary, and behavioral therapies are the first-line treatment.

About Tourette syndrome in brief

Tourette’s is a neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement tics and at least one vocal tic. Common tics are blinking, coughing, throat clearing, sniffing, and facial movements. Extreme Tourette’s in adulthood, though sensationalized in the media, is rare, but for a small minority, severely debilitating tics can persist into adulthood. The exact cause is unknown, but it is believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The mechanism appears to involve dysfunction in neural circuits between the basal ganglia and related structures in the brain. In most cases, medication for tics is not necessary, and behavioral therapies are the first-line treatment. Education is an important part of any treatment plan, and explanation alone often provides sufficient reassurance that no other treatment is necessary. Most research on TS originates in the United States, and in international research the preferred classification is preferred over the WHO classification. Genetic studies indicate that tic disorders cover a spectrum that is not recognized by the current diagnostic framework. Elucidation of these subtypes awaits fuller understanding of the genetic and other causes of tic movements. Tic disorders are defined only slightly differently by the World Health Organization ; in its ICD-10, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, TS is described as “combined vocal and multiple motor tic disorder” The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) listed Tourette syndrome as a motor disorder in chapter V, 2, 2 to 23 in DSM-5, and TS as a mental disorder in the equivalent chapter F95 in the U.S.

In the current version of the DSM, it is listed as a neurological disorder. It was named by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot for his intern, Georges Gilles de la Tourette, who published in 1885 an account of nine patients with a \”convulsive tic Disorder\”. It is not a unitary condition with a distinct mechanism as described in the existing classification systems; studies suggest that subtypes should be recognized to distinguish between TS and TS that is accompanied by attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder or other disorders. The tics must not be explained by other medical conditions or substance use. Other conditions on the spectrum include persistent motor or vocal tics, in which one type of tics has been present for more than a year; and provisional tics have been present in less than one year. Tics are sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic movements that involve discrete muscle groups, while vocal tics involve laryngeal, pharyngeals, oral, nasal or respiratory muscles to produce sounds. There is no cure for Tourette’s and no single most effective medication, and there is no single best treatment for the tics. For more information, visit the National Institutes of Health website.

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