Tourette Sydrome, commonly called TS, is an inhereted brain disorder.
characteristics of TS are uncontrollable body movements known as tics and .
uncontrollable vocal noises. All ethnic groups are affected and men are three to four .
times more likely to have it than women. Symptoms vary from preson to person and also .
vary in how severe they are. Research into causes is ongoing and there is no known .
cure. Conditions associated with Tourette's include obsessive compulsive disorder, .
learning diasbilities, attention problems such as ADD or ADHD, and impulsiveness. .
About one in two hundred people have Tourette's. .
Tics are the main symptoms of Tourette's. They can be both verbal and motor. .
Some motor tics include facial tics such as bilnking of eyes or lip movements, repeated .
throat clearing or sniffing, repeated hand rubbing or washing, arm thrusting, leg kicking, .
head twitching, shoulder shruging, or jumping. Verbal tics may include odd noises, .
repeating of something that is said, or coprolalia. Coprolalia is a less exhibited tic in .
which a person will swear or make racial slurs, neither of which are intended to hurt or .
offend anyone, although they often do because they occur at very inopportune times. .
Some people can supress their tics for minutes or even hours, but when they stop .
supressing them they are a lot more severe. .
Research into the causes of Tourette Syndrome is ongoing. So far research has .
shown that it is a genetic disease. A few chromosomal locations have been discovered .
that appear to carry the genes that caues TS. Parents have fifty percent chance of passing .
the gene on to their childern. Girls who possess the gene have a seventy percent chance of .
showing symptoms, while boys have a significantly higher chance of ninety nine percent. .
Scientists believe that an abnormal metabolism of two nuerotransmitters, dopmaine and .
serotonin, are involved in the cause of the disorder.