Tourette Syndrome

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In 1885, a 28 year old neurologist, Georges Gilles de la Tourette came across a condition where the victims twitched and jerked uncontrollably. The people also cried out, grunted and in some cases, swore. (geocities 1) This syndrome would later be known as Tourette Syndrome. Today doctors diagnose Tourette Syndrome using the Diagnostic Service Manual.
DSM-IV gives the criteria for Tourette Syndrome as follows: 1) both multiple motor and one or more vocal tics have been present at sometime during the illness, although not necessarily concurrently. 2) The tics occur many times a day (usually in bouts) nearly everyday or intermittently throughout a period of one year, and during this period there was never a tic free period of more than three consecutive months. 3) The disturbance causes marked distress or significant impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning. 4) The onset is before the age 18 years. 5) The disturbance is not due to direct psychological effects of a substance (e.g. stimulants) or a general medical condition (e.g. Huntington’s Disease or post viral encephalitis). There are many specific symptoms of Tourette Syndrome.
Tourette Syndrome is diagnosed by “ observing symptoms and by evaluating the history of onset.” (pbs 1) This syndrome is characterized by tics. Tics include involuntary, rapid or sudden movements or vocalizations that happen repeatedly in the same way. Four categories of tics exist for Tourette Syndrome. They are motor tics, vocal tics, mental tics, and breathing tics. Motor tics consist of eye blinking, head swaying and other similar movements. Vocal tics include, coughing, sniffing, clearing of the throat, grunting, or saying obscene words. Mental tics have recently been studied and added as a category. The sufferers often recite things in their mind repeatedly. They also may list things or think of certain words over and over again in their mind. ...