Tourette Syndrome

A person with Tourette syndrome shows no unusual behavior early in life. During the teenage years, however, he or she may begin to blink a lot and make facial grimaces or twitches, called tics.

The person may also begin to experience uncontrolled movements of the head and limbs.

Later, a person with Tourette syndrome will begin to make unusual sounds or blurt out inappropriate words. The words may be curse words and are often repeated several times.

Symptoms of the disorder include making many involuntary movements. These include:

• facial twitches, or tics
• twitching or jerking of the head and shoulders
• jerking of the arms and legs

Other symptoms include making involuntary sounds, such as:

• grunts
• yelping
• coughs
• hissing
• loudly blurting out words that are inappropriate

An affected person may also have compulsive behavior, repeating a particular activity to relieve fear or anxiety.

Many cases of Tourette syndrome occur randomly, but other cases tend to run in families. Tourette syndrome affects 1 in 2,500 males. Females are affected less frequently.

Both the genetic mechanisms of inheritance for Tourette syndrome, and the neural pathways affected by the disorder, have been studied, but neither is fully understood as yet.

Nothing can be done to prevent Tourette syndrome.

Tourette syndrome is diagnosed by a healthcare professional who takes a careful history of the symptoms. The provider may also observe the tics and other inappropriate movements or vocal sounds.

The effects of Tourette syndrome may vary over the course of the lives of affected persons. At times, the effects may almost disappear, only to return later, as pronounced as ever. Some affected persons are able to suppress the tics and sounds for very short periods of time.

Tourette syndrome is not contagious. It is an inherited disorder that can be passed from affected persons to their children. Genetic counseling is valuable for the relatives of affected persons.

Various medications have been tried to treat Tourette syndrome. Haloperidol (i.e., Haldol) is used most often, but pimozide (i.e., Orap) is also effective. These drugs may be used alone or with other drugs to treat specific symptoms of the disease.

Persons being treated for Tourette syndrome may be depressed or drowsy or have blurred vision. Persons may also have less control over their regular, voluntary movements.

Symptoms return if treatment is stopped.

Tourette syndrome is monitored by observation. If the syndrome is being treated with medications, the levels of the drugs in the blood are monitored by blood tests.