Tourette

There are health conditions that can be horrible and unnerving as well as helplessly incurable at this time. And Tourette Syndrome is one of them.

STARTING May 15, the world will be celebrating Tourette Syndrome Awareness Month.

Breakthroughs supports this move with a special discussion of this inherited neuropsychiatric disorder. 

Tourette usually starts to manifest in childhood (mostly between ages five and seven) with its characteristic multiple physical tics and at least one vocal tic. 

Tics, according to the Leckman study published in Advanced Neurology (2006), are sudden, repetitive, non-rhythmic movements (e.g. throat clearing, eye blinking, and shoulder shrug) and utterances (e.g. involuntary shouting) that involve discrete muscles. 

Although considered before as rare, studies through the years noted a prevalence of 0.4 percent to 3.8 percent usually among children ageing five to 18. Most patients experience peak symptoms before their mid-teen years, with majority improving in their late teens and early adulthood. 

Around 10-15 percent, however, progress to disabling severity into adulthood. So far males get Tourette around three to four times more than females. Still only children who inherited the genes show symptoms that require medical intervention. 

The exact cause of Tourette remains unknown. Even laboratory diagnosis is good only at ruling other diseases, not pointing on its presence. 

Researchers though confirmed the involvement of...  [READ MORE]

This article appears in Sun-Star Cebu Newspaper on 07 May 2014.