What is Tourette syndrome caused by?
The exact cause of Tourette syndrome isn’t known. It’s a complex disorder likely caused by a combination of inherited (genetic) and environmental factors. Chemicals in the brain that transmit nerve impulses (neurotransmitters), including dopamine and serotonin, might play a role.
What does having tics mean?
Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a condition of the nervous system. TS causes people to have “tics”. Tics are sudden twitches, movements, or sounds that people do repeatedly. People who have tics cannot stop their body from doing these things.
What are phonic tics?
Phonic tics include sniffling, throat clearing, blowing, coughing, echolalia, or coprolalia. Males are affected about 3 times more often than females, and onset usually occurs between 3 and 8 years of age.
What are the causes of Tourette syndrome?
The exact cause of Tourette syndrome isn’t known. It’s a complex disorder likely caused by a combination of inherited (genetic) and environmental factors. Chemicals in the brain that transmit nerve impulses (neurotransmitters), including dopamine and serotonin, might play a role.
How do people get Tourette’s syndrome?
The exact cause of Tourette syndrome isn’t known, but some research suggests that it happens when there’s a problem with how nerves communicate in certain areas of the brain. An upset in the balance of neurotransmitters (chemicals in the brain that carry nerve signals from cell to cell) might play a role.
Does Prozac cause Tourette’s disorder?
Most of the associated behaviors in Tourette Syndrome have at one time or the other been suspected of being caused by abnormalities in brain serotonin. Thus, when our TS patients, or their relatives, had some of these additional problems we often treated them with Prozac.
Does my child have Tourette’s?
There is no lab test to diagnose Tourette syndrome. Your child’s doctor may do an examination or run tests to rule out other causes of the symptoms. To be diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, a person must: Have both motor (body movement) and vocal (involving the voice) tics. These don’t have to occur at the same time.