Tourette Syndrome

Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder in which there are repetitive, involuntary movements and sounds called tics. The early symptoms of Tourette syndrome commonly occur first in childhood, the average onset is between the ages of 7 and 10 years. All ethnic groups can develop this disorder with males being affected about three to four times more often than females.  

Although Tourette syndrome can be a chronic condition with symptoms lasting a lifetime, most people with the condition experience their worst symptoms in their early teens, with improvement occurring in the late teens and continuing into adulthood.

Tics are classified as either simple or complex. Simple motor tics are sudden, brief, repetitive movements including: eye blinking and other vision irregularities, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, and head or shoulder jerking. Simple might include repetitive throat-clearing, sniffing, or grunting sounds. 

Complex tics are distinct, coordinated patterns of movements that might include facial grimacing combined with a head twist and a shoulder shrug. Other complex motor tics may actually appear purposeful, including sniffing or touching objects, jumping, bending, or twisting. Simple vocal tics may include throat-clearing, sniffing/snorting, grunting, or barking. More complex vocal tics include words or phrases. Thee tics which are the most concerning and severe include motor movements that result in self harm such as punching oneself in the face or vocal tics including cursing or repeating the words or phrases of others.

Some people with Tourette syndrome describe a need to complete a tic in a certain way or a certain number of times in order to relieve an urge. Tics are often worse with excitement or anxiety and better during calm activities. Tics do not go away during sleep but are often diminished.

Tics over time appear and disappear, vary in type, frequency, location, and severity. The first symptoms usually occur in the head and neck area and may progress to include other areas of the body. Motor tics generally emerge before the development of vocal tics and often complex tics follow simple tics. Most patients experience severity in tics the teen years which improves for the majority of patients in the late teen years and early adulthood. Some of those affected have a progressive course that lasts into adulthood.

There is no cure for Tourette syndrome. The disorder is generally lifelong and chronic, but it is not degenerative. Persons with Tourette syndrome have a normal life span. Tourette syndrome does not impair intelligence. Although tic symptoms tend to decrease with age, it is possible that disorders such as depression, panic attacks, mood swings can cause it to  persist and impair adult life.