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Tourette Syndrome
See Also:
Tourette
Syndrome: General Description
Tourette
Syndrome: Signs & Symptoms
Tourette
Syndrome: Diagnosis
Tourette
Syndrome: Treatment Options
Signs and Symptoms
The main symptoms of Tourette Syndrome is the presence
of two types of tics, motor or vocal tics.
Characteristics of tics:
- Tics can become more severe, more frequent or
longer when the person is under a lot of stress.
- Tics can be suppressed for a short period of
time, but the tension builds up and eventually
will be released through a tic.
- Tics often subside during activities that demand
attention and deep concentration and decline
during sleep.
- A tic can be controlled for a short period of
time, but it requires a lot of energy and
concentration. Attention focused on other
activities (having a conversation or paying
attention to a teacher in class) could be
seriously impaired as the subject attempts to
exert control over their tic.
- Tics can be divided in two distinct categories: simple
tic and complex tic.
Motor
Tics
Motor tics develop as sudden, rapid, recurrent,
involuntary muscles movements in the head and
facial area. There are two types of motor tics:
simple tics and complex tics. Simple
motor tics involve an abrupt, brief,
isolated movement of a small number of muscles or
limited muscles groups.This category of tics
includes: eye blinking, facial grimacing, facial
twitching, neck stretching, shoulder shrugging,
head or shoulder jerking.Complex motor
tics involve distinct movement patterns
of several groups of muscles. This category of
tics includes: repetitive squatting, skipping, or
hopping, repetitive touching of others, deep knee
bending, jumping, smelling of objects, hand
gesturing, head shaking, leg kicking, or turning
in a circle.
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Motor tics can spread to other regions of the
body (shoulders, arms, legs and torso area), but the
anatomical location of the tics can change over the time.
It is not common for tics to evolve into complex form of
manifestation as self-injury behaviors, like excessive
scratching or lip biting.
Vocal Tics
Vocal tics are sudden, involuntary, recurrent
vocalizations. Vocal tics occur as single, simple sounds
(grunting, throat clearing, sighing, barking, hissing,
sniffing, tongue clicking, or snorting) in the beginning
and can evolve to a more complex forms. Complex vocal
tics involve palilalia (repeating certain phrases or
words out of context), echolalia (repeating the last
words or phrases spoken by others) or coprolalia
(explosive cursing or compulsive utterance of obscene
words or phrases).
Associated Disorders
Teenagers with Tourette Syndrome may develop associated
behavior problems including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD - a neurological disorder characterized by limited
ability to focus, impulsive behavior and overactivity),
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD - a disorder
characterized by repeated or compulsive actions or
rituals), learning disabilities and sleeping problems.
TS Disorder Progression
Tourette Syndrome' symptoms evolve from simple to complex
and from motor tics to vocal tics. They first occur in
the head and neck region and can spread to more muscle
groups from other area of the body including trunk and
extremities. Patients that develop TS syndrome display a
combination/ cluster of different motor and vocal tics.
Tics can occur once or many times during the day and
they follow a waxing and waning course decreasing or
increasing in frequency and intensity. Tics are more
severe in the first years after the onset of the syndrome
and starting with the mid-teen to the late teen years and
early adulthood the tics improve for the majority of the
patient. Although Tourette syndrome is a chronic disorder
with life long symptoms, there are patients that may have
weeks or even years with few or no symptoms.
Only 10% of the patients affected by Tourette syndrome
have a progressive course that lasts into adult years.
For most patients, symptoms may completely resolve during
adulthood.
See Also:
Tourette
Syndrome: General Description
Tourette
Syndrome: Signs & Symptoms
Tourette
Syndrome: Diagnosis
Tourette
Syndrome: Treatment Options
Tourrette's is sometimes mistakenly spelled Turrets
Syndrome, or Turretts Syndrome.

Article by Alina Morrow, MS
Medical Writer,
OmniMedicalSearch.com
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