Dr Arun Kumar Sharma, the consultant neurologist and clinical director of Medeor 24/7 Hospital, Dubai throws light on Tourette’s Syndrome:
1. Tourette’s Syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterised by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalisations called tics. Occurring in one in a 100 individuals worldwide, the disorder was first described by an eminent neurologist Dr Georges Gilles de la Tourette in 1885.
2. The condition can be attributed to some genetic influence. In a recently published study, a strong evidence for association was observed for markers on chromosome number 2.
3. Globally, the age at onset of TS ranges from 2 to 21 years. The median age of onset of TS in the UAE is reported to be 6.4 years.
4. Symptoms include multiple motor tics and one or more vocal/phonic tics, lasting longer than a year. Tics can be simple (blinking, eye rolling, nose twitching, head nodding and mouth pouting) or complex (touching, squatting, jumping and hopping). Others include simple vocalisations such as sniffing, throat clearing, gulping, snorting and coughing.
5. In some cases there could be complex vocal tics include barking, making of animal noises and uttering strings of incomprehensible words. Tics may worsen when the person is relaxed and suppressed when engaged in activities requiring full concentration such as playing a musical instrument, playing sports and in adults when driving a car.
6. Other behavioural peculiarities include copying or repeating what others say or using some inappropriate terms.
7. Tics usually become worse at around 12 years and the severity then declines and may not last for life. TS has a fluctuating, waxing and waning course and variable clinical features at different stages of life. Only 15 per cent of patients go on to have a progressively a deteriorating course.
8. Patients of TS usually have other behavioural conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Obsessive Compulsive Behavior (OCB), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and probably autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs).
9. The level of awareness of TS is low in Arab countries with only one study published so far by the Al Tawam University, Al Ain.
10. Medical intervention for TS includes psychological, behavioural and drug therapies. Currently injection of botulinum toxin into the vocal chords and deep brain stimulation for severe and refractory tics in adult GTS patients are being tried.
DID YOU KNOW?
TS does not hamper an individual’s IQ and many famous personalities are said to have had the condition. These include legendary composers Beethoven and Mozart, entrepreneur Howard Hughes (who was famously played by Leonard de Caprio in the movie The Aviator), David Beckham (the football star) and Marc Eliot (inspirational speaker), just to name a few.
