Tourette Syndrome

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Tourette Syndrome

• Matt Blue
• 1st Block

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Tourettes Disorder

• Other common names for Tourettes are
• TS or GTS
• The official DSM-IV-TR name for the disease is
  Tourettes Disorder after the French
  neurologist, Gilles de la Tourette, but commonly
  referred to as Tourettes Syndrome.

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Is it Genetic or Chromosomal?

• Tourettes is a disease that is believed to be one
  of chromosomal defects.
• This disease is most referred to the disorder of
  the 13th chromosome.
• Mistaken with chromosome 7 which is said to be
  the cause of many diseases.
• In this case, some scientist believe it involves
  chromosome 11

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TS Chromosome Graphic

• This image shows chromosome 13 glowing
  fluorescent,
• a disorder in the
• chromosome
• holding the
• Tourettes
• disease.

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Symptoms of Tourettes

• Common symptoms found in TS victims are
• Chronic to mild tics
• Facial tics, eye blinking, nose and mouth
  twitching, grimaces, head turning or jerking, and
  neck stretching.
• Vocal tics
• Uttering strange and unacceptable sounds, words
  or phrases. Constant clearing of the throat,
  coughing, sniffs, grunts, yelps, barking, or
  shouting.
• Coprolalia
• Involuntary shouting of obscenities.
• Echolalia
• Repeating of words heard from other people or
  self.

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Symptoms Cont.

• Other common and rare symptoms are
• Head banging
• Lip or cheek biting
• Touching or grabbing objects
• Fist clenching
• Rage attacks
• Kicking or punching
• Foot tapping or stomping
• Yelling, screaming, and cursing
• Body twisting or jerking

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Testing for Tourettes

• The diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome is based upon
  a thorough clinical evaluation, observation and
  assessment of characteristic symptoms, and a
  careful patient and family history.
• Certain blood tests, other laboratory studies, or
  neuroimaging techniques may be conducted to
  eliminate related disorders with similar symptoms
  
• Computerized tomography (CT) scanning
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning
• And electroencephalography (EEG) are other
  procedures possible

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Prognosis

• What is the survival rate?
• Tourettes is not a fatal disease, unless possibly
  a violent tic happens while operating a
  automobile or other lare machinery.
• Is it Treatable?
• Tourettes is an incurable disease, and
  unfortunately one that sticks with the owner
  until death. However, medication can be taken to
  reduce the number of outburst and control
  involuntary movement.

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Treatments for TS

• Most people with the disease do not require
  treatment because most cases of the disease are
  mild, but there are treatments for the more
  serious and severe cases.
• Medication
• Therapy
• Awareness classes, supportive counseling, and
  behavior control therapy

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Current Research

• Neurobiological Studies
• Studying possible dysregulation of
  neurotransmitters
• Genetic Studies
• Studying of the genetics and chromosomes 13 and
  11
• Magnetic Spectroscopy Imaging
• Pilot study of participants at Yale University
• Anger Control Training for Children and
  Adolescents with TS
• Studying and involvement with children at Yale

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Genetic Counseling for Tourettes

• Tourettes is an inherited disease.
• It is important for families to understand that
  genetic predisposition may not necessarily result
  in full-blown TS instead, it may express itself
  as a milder tic disorder or as obsessive-compulsiv
  e behaviors. It is also possible that the
  gene-carrying offspring will not develop any TS
  symptoms.

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Punnetts Square

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Tourettes

http//www.tourettes-disorder.com/symptoms/tics.ht
ml
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People with Tourettes

• Howard Hughes (1905 - 1976)
• Howard Hughes' "eccentricities" were well-known,
  including a germ obsession that started in
  childhood and worsened throughout his adult
  years. That didn't stop him, however, from being
  brilliantly successful in both Hollywood as a
  film director and producer and in aviation, where
  he owned a number of airlines, and at one point
  held a number of air speed records as an aviator.
• Dan Ackroyd (1952 - )
• It's hard to know what accomplishment to mention
  first with Dan Ackroyd -- his performance in The
  Blues Brothers, his role in Ghost Busters, his
  comedy in Saturday Night Live, or House of Blues,
  where people can hear great blues music. This
  talented actor, musician, screenwriter, and
  comedian grew up struggling with symptoms of
  Tourette's and Asperger's Syndrome. You can hear
  Dan talking about how these conditions affected
  him in an interview he gave on NPR.
• David Beckham (1975 - )
• This talented soccer player ("footballer") from
  the UK has recently admitted that he struggles
  with his OCD  ""I've got this obsessive
  compulsive disorder where I have to have
  everything in a straight line or everything has
  to be in pairs. I'll put my Pepsi cans in the
  fridge and if there's one too many then I'll put
  it in another cupboard somewhere. I'll go into a
  hotel room and before I can relax, I have to move
  all the leaflets and all the books and put them
  in a drawer. Everything has to be perfect."
  (Source - The Independent Online, April 2, 2006).

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Credits

• http//www.tourettesyndrome.net/touretteocd_famous
  .htm
• http//childstudycenter.yale.edu/clinics/ocd/resea
  rch.html
• http//www.emedicine.com/neuro/TOPIC664.HTM
• http//www.tourettes-disorder.com/introduction.htm
  l
• http//www.tourettesyndrome.net/