Tourette's Syndrome

Tourette\'s Syndrome was discovered in 1885 by Georges Gilles de la Tourette, a neuropsychiatrist.   Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by tics which are involuntary, rapid, sudden movements, or vocalizations that occur repeatedly.   Nearly one in two hundred people in the United States have some form of T.S.   The disease becomes evident in early childhood or adolescence between the ages of two and fifteen.  

There are many symptoms of Tourette\'s like: rapid blinking of the eyes, involuntary movements and sounds, clearing of the throat, head jerking, shoulder shrugging, facial grimacing, tongue clicking, coprolalia (the uncontrollable use of obscene language), and copropraxia (the uncontrollable use of obscene gestures).   The two categories of tics are simple, like yelling and eye blinking and complex, like twirling around, sniffing, and sometimes self-injurious actions like hitting or biting oneself.   Males are three to four times more times affected by T.S. than females. The cause of T.S. is unknown, yet recent research leads us to believe that it is caused by abnormal activity of a neurotransmitter (brain chemical) like dopamine or serotonin. There no known cures for Tourette\'s. Many people experience marked improvement in their late teens or early twenties. Some alternative treatments include watchful waiting, stress reduction, relaxation techniques, biofeedback (a technique in which patients are trained to gain some voluntary control over certain physiological conditions, such as blood pressure and muscle tension, to promote relaxation).Many treatments involve drugs like neuroleptic drugs(which are tranquilizing drugs) , sedatives, antihypertensive drugs (medications that lower blood pressure), tranquillizers, antipsychotic drugs (major tranquilizers ), and stimulants(which are drugs that stimulate or speed up central nervous system functioning like caffeine, nicotine, and amphetamines like Speed and cocaine).   All of the...