Tourette Syndrome Research Paper

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Pages: 4

What is a disorder so baffling that the person you always knew suddenly without warning starts blinking constantly? There is nothing in his eye but the compulsion to blink is so powerful. This disorder can also involve muscle movement and uncontrollable vocal sounds. The person doesn’t do it because he wants to, he just can’t control his behaviour or actions. This disorder is called Tourette’s syndrome and Tics. Tourette syndrome is a physical disorder of the brain which causes involuntary movement (Motor tics) and involuntary vocalizations (vocal tics). Motor tics can occur in any part of the body and includes eye blinking, facial gestures, shoulder shrugging, head jerking and hand movement. Common vocal tics include throat clearing, …show more content…
When both parents have tics or disorders associated with OCD and ADHD the risks increases for their children to have tics. Scientists have found genes on several different chromosomes that corresponds with Tics. Possible monogenetic risk factors include low birth weight, maternal use of substances such as caffeine, alcohol or cigarettes during pregnancy, maternal stress during pregnancy and difficulty at times of delivery. In some people with this syndrome antibiotics (proteins in the blood that fight the streptococcal bacteria) cross react with areas in the brain that control movement. Most often this syndrome begins in childhood before age twenty-one. Because people don’t recognize the symptoms of Tourette syndrome and believe their children are behaving normally, they may actually have tics from the ages of two to fifteen before a diagnoses is …show more content…
Boys get the disorder as high as 1 in every 1000. Presently, boys with Tourette’s syndrome outnumber girls about 3 to 1. Any daughters that inherit the gene will have a 70 percent chance of having symptoms, sons will have a 99 percent chance. The medications most effective for helping reduce tics are Dopamine- receptor blocking agents. Other possible medications may include clonazepam, which is a muscle relaxant. These children have great difficulty with learning disorders in school. They may feel depressed, have low self-esteem, behaviour disorder, and sleep disorder. They may feel left out from their friends and develop depression. I as a PSW would need to be very compassionate, non-judgemental, appreciate the person as an individual and not focus on the disorder. For their social wellbeing I would encourage them to spent time with their friends, I would encourage support groups with people that are experiencing the same issues that they are. They need to feel loved and have people understand what they are going