Tourette's Disorder
What is Tourette's disorder (TD)?
Tourette's disorder (TD), sometimes called Tourette's syndrome (TS), is a neurological disorder characterized by multiple repeated tics. Tics are abrupt, purposeless, and involuntary vocal sounds or muscular jerks. Symptoms of TD usually begin between the ages of five and 10 years of age, and usually begin with mild, simple tics involving the face, head, or arms. With time, tics become more frequent and increase in variety, involving more body parts such as the trunk or legs, and often become more disruptive to activities of daily living (ADLs).
Who is affected by Tourette's disorder?
A diagnosis of TD is generally made before the child reaches his/her 18th birthday. In the majority of cases, a child is diagnosed around the age of seven. TD affects more males than females.
Facts About Tic Disorders
Tics are abrupt, purposeless, and involuntary vocal sounds or muscular jerks. They are sudden, rapid, and recurrent. They can involve any body part and may vary in severity - from very mild and hardly noticeable to very disrupting, frequent, and severe.
Nearly 5 to 24 percent of school-aged children experience transient tic disorder - the most common type of tic disorder, with symptoms lasting at least four months, but no longer than one year. Symptoms of transient tic disorder may be more prevalent in periods of stress, fatigue, or as a result of certain types of medications, and may be confused with other symptoms of nervousness, anxiety, or restlessness that many children experience.
Tics which are seen lasting more than one year are classified as chronic tics. Chronic tics affect less than 1 percent of school-aged children and must be differentiated between Tourette's disorder in which multiple motor tics and at least one or more vocal tics must be present.
Tic disorders are generally differentiated based on the type of tics presented, the age of onset of symptoms, and the duration of symptoms.