What is Tourette's syndrome?

Tourette syndrome is a neurobiological disorder. It causes a combination of tics and involuntary vocal outbursts, such as laughter. Psychotherapy and medication can help minimize symptoms if necessary. Typically, people with this disorder don't need treatment unless their outbursts interrupt their daily activities.

Tourette's syndrome is a disorder that affects about 1 in 100 people. People with Tourette's syndrome have frequently occurring muscle tics, like head jerking, blinking, and kicking, and verbal outbursts, such as swearing. It often starts in childhood but may be hard to diagnose because symptoms are milder in early life.

Tourette's syndrome (TS), also known as Tourette syndrome or Tourette's disorder, is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. The symptoms are involuntary and cannot be controlled by the individual.

The disorder was first described in 1885 in an 86 year-old French noble woman by Dr. Georges Gilles de la Tourette, a pioneering French neurologist.

The early symptoms of TS are almost always noticed first in childhood, with the average onset between the ages of seven and ten years. TS occurs in people from all ethnic groups, and males are affected about three to four times more often than females.

Overall, about one in every 2,500 persons has TS. Three times as many may exhibit some features of TS, usually chronic motor tics or obsessive thoughts.

Individuals with TS have trouble controlling their impulses (they may act out verbally or have involuntary muscle movements), are prone to dyslexia (or other learning problems), and tend to talk during sleep or wake frequently. The nature and complexity of the tics usually change over time with natural variations in frequency (how many times they happen) and severity (the intensity of the symptoms).

TS occurs in people from all ethnic groups. It is estimated that 200,000 Americans have the most severe form of TS, and as many as one in 100 exhibit milder and less complex symptoms such as chronic motor or vocal tics or transient tics of childhood.

Although there is no cure for TS, symptoms that start in childhood may improve in the late teens and early 20s. As a result, some may actually become symptom-free or no longer need medication for tic suppression. Although the disorder is sometimes lifelong and chronic, it is not a degenerative (worsens over time) condition. Individuals with TS have a normal life expectancy. TS does not impair intelligence.

Although tic symptoms may improve with age, disorders such as depression, panic attacks, mood swings, and antisocial behaviors may develop and can persist causing impairment in adult life.

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