Tourette Syndrome

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterised by tics – involuntary, rapid, sudden movements or vocalisations that occur repeatedly in the same way. It is named after the doctor who first identified it in 1825. The location, frequency, and complexity of tics changes over time. Motor tics frequently involve the head, central body, legs, and arms. They may result in simple movements such as eye blinking, or more complex movements such as touching and squatting. Vocal tics can include sounds such as grunts, barks, sniffs, snorts, coughs, and obscenities.

Diagnostic criteria include: both multiple motor and one or more vocal tics present at some time, although not necessarily simultaneously; the occurrence of tics many times a day (usually in bouts) nearly every day or intermittently throughout the span of more than one year; periodic changes in the number, frequency, type and location of the tics, and in the waxing and waning of their severity. Symptoms can sometimes disappear for weeks or months at a time.

Tourette’s Syndrome is always diagnosed before the age of eighteen – most commonly appearing around seven years of age. The prevalence is about 1 in 2000 people. It occurs more often in males than females and symptoms are usually present for life. The severity of Tourette’s varies a great deal over time, but improvement can occur during late adolescence and in adulthood. Teens with Tourette’s Syndrome often have additional problems with obsessions, compulsions, hyperactivity, distractibility, and impulsiveness.

 Tourette Scotland

Tourette Syndrome Association