The causes of Tourette’s syndrome are not yet fully understood. Researchers know, however, that Tourette’s syndrome is hereditary and therefore to a significant degree hereditary.
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For example, female offspring of parents with Tourette syndrome have an approximately five percent higher risk of also developing this tic disorder. These are disorders in which sufferers make involuntary, abrupt movements or sounds that are not intended for a specific purpose.
For the male offspring, the probability is even around ten percent. In addition, it is very common in families with a Tourette patient to have members who exhibit mild tic disorders and compulsive behaviors.
So far, however, there is no genetic test that could diagnose hereditary Tourette syndrome. To date, scientists have not been able to identify a responsible change in the genome or the inheritance by which parents pass Tourette’s syndrome on to their children.
Tourette’s syndrome is an organic brain disease. Presumably, movement control does not work properly in Tourette’s patients because brain maturation is disrupted.
Individual areas of the brain that regulate and control movement are designed or supplied with blood differently in people with Tourette’s syndrome than in healthy people. Doctors know this because they have compared the images of both brains.
Presumably, certain messenger substances, such as dopamine, are also involved in the tic disorder. It is not yet clear what exactly happens in the brain when a tic occurs.
In addition to genetic predisposition, the following risk factors are believed to play a role in Tourette syndrome:
There is a wide variety of symptoms associated with Tourette’s Syndrome. Doctors distinguish vocal tics, in the form of making noise, and motor tics, in which the movements are unusual. There is also a division into simple and complex tics.
Some examples of Tourette tics:
People with Tourette syndrome can control their tics to some extent.
You sense when the next tic is approaching and can postpone it for a while. But at some point they can no longer suppress it because the inner “pressure” becomes too overwhelming – after all, it usually discharges violently.
Most people with Tourette syndrome experience the tics every day, several times. They themselves usually suffer enormously from their vocal or motor Tourette tics. Above all, because they often encounter little understanding and love in their environment and experience a lot of rejection.
The first Tourette tics usually appear in children at a young age. The signs of a tic disorder can be:
Such symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome can appear very suddenly, individually or in combination. What they all have in common, however, is that they don’t stop at first.
On the contrary: They usually increase over time and reach their strongest point during puberty or between the ages of 16 and 26. After that, the tics may disappear completely. For many, at least the frequency and intensity of symptoms decrease.
In addition, certain situations intensify or alleviate the tics: they usually increase with anger, joy, inner tension or stress. They decrease in phases of relaxation or extreme concentration (e.g. at school). Sometimes the tics go away in phases or subside – only to reappear quite unexpectedly.
Not every child experiences Tourette’s syndrome in the same way. There are mild forms and severe forms of Tourette syndrome. Doctors use the so-called Tourette Syndrome Global Scale ( TSGS ) for classification.
The type, frequency and severity of the tics, the impairment they cause in everyday life, but also the behavior of the child at home and at school play a role. This classification is also important for the need for treatment.
Tourette’s syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder, which in turn is one of the tic disorders. Tourette syndrome affects children. In 90 percent of cases, the symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome begin before the age of eleven. The point of origin is usually between the fourth and seventh year of life.
Children with Tourette syndrome develop vocal and/or motor tics that can be simple or complex. These tics appear completely involuntarily. They have no meaning and also have no meaning or purpose. The tics occur individually, but also in series. They can also be temporary or chronic.
According to the definition, tics are “involuntary, rapid, mostly sudden, shooting and sometimes very violent movements or vocalizations that can occur again and again in the same way individually or in series.”
Tourette’s syndrome is named after the French doctor Georges Gilles de la Tourette. He described the clinical picture scientifically for the first time in 1885.
Estimating the frequency of Tourette’s syndrome is only possible approximately: Doctors assume that about one percent of the general population is affected by this tic disorder. In Germany, more than 800,000 people would suffer from Tourette’s.
Other illnesses and health problems often accompany Tourette’s syndrome. Some examples:
Intellectual abilities are not impaired in Tourette’s syndrome. A disability, even a severe one, can still be a disruption for those affected in everyday life, at school and in professional life.
Children with Tourette’s syndrome may receive disadvantage compensation at school under the Severely Disabled Persons Act. The pension office recognizes Tourette’s syndrome as a disability upon application. Depending on the type and intensity of the symptoms as well as the course and the therapeutic influence, the degree of disability (GdB) is between 50 and 100 percent.
So far, there is no complete cure for Tourette’s syndrome, but the symptoms can be treated. However, not all children need therapy. For most, the tics hardly affect everyday life and they cope well with it. In the case of more pronounced tics and other health problems, doctors always “tailor” the treatment individually for each child and work out a treatment plan together with the parents.
There are medications and non-medication treatments for Tourette syndrome. Doctors usually use a combination of several therapy strategies.
The following treatments are possible for Tourette’s syndrome:
The diagnosis of Tourette’s syndrome belongs in the hands of an experienced doctor, preferably a child and adolescent psychiatrist. He asks the child, but also the parents, a few questions as part of the anamnesis, for example:
The doctor makes the diagnosis “Tourette syndrome” based on the symptoms that occur, the predominant tics and the course of the disease. Parents can often provide the best information here if the children are still too small. People with Tourette syndrome have a combination of vocal and multiple motor tics.
Doctors use questionnaires and rating scales to determine the severity of Tourette syndrome. They are very extensive and parents fill out the documents at home.
In addition, it is always important to rule out other diseases as the cause, such as epilepsy, Huntington’s disease (a rare, hereditary brain disease) or restless legs syndrome (uncontrolled urge to move the legs). These diseases are also linked to movement disorders.
A blood test shows whether everything is fine with the liver, kidney or thyroid values. Doctors are also trying to differentiate Tourette syndrome from other tic disorders. Doctors also diagnose possible concomitant diseases, for example ADHD, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders or depression.
Tourette syndrome usually begins at a young age. Children are often still in elementary school when the first tics appear. The phased course of Tourette’s syndrome can be roughly described as follows:
Sometimes the course of Tourette’s syndrome is more difficult and the quality of life suffers enormously. Those affected need long-term medical help and the support of parents, friends, teachers or at work.
Many children have problems at school and with learning, mainly because of the accompanying disorders such as impulsiveness, being easily distracted or hyperactivity. It is therefore important to provide individual support that integrates the children and is conducive to their development.
Tourette’s syndrome often seems strange to other people. If an affected person suddenly makes wild movements, sniffles or grunts loudly, pulls faces, utters obscene words or makes offensive gestures, those around them often react with incomprehension, rejection and exclusion.
It is often uncomfortable for people with Tourette’s if they cannot behave appropriately to the situation. They suffer the most. Many then become socially withdrawn and isolated.
That is why it is so important to get parents, relatives, friends, teachers and classmates on board and to educate them about the clinical picture. Those who are well informed about it then react more understandingly.
Some tips and addresses:
Sources
This article was written by Ingrid Müller, biologist
The original for this post “Tourette Syndrome: Everything you need to know” comes from FOCUS doctor search.
