Tourette Syndrome (뚜렛 증후군)

A disorder characterized by involuntary utterances and motions known as tics, Tourette syndrome (TS) is named for the French doctor who first described it in 1885. About 200,000 Americans, mostly men, suffer from severe and persistent TS, and many more have milder forms of the disorder.

 

뚜렛 증후군의 증상은 주로 7세에서 10세 사이에 시작되는데, 초기 성인기에 발전하면서 일부 사례는 평생 지속될 수 있다. 스트레스나 흥분은 틱을 유발하거나 심화시킬 수 있으며, 종종 전조충동이라고 불리우는 감각이 선행된다. 개개인은 결국 참을수 없게 되는 충동, 즉 그들의 틱을 "완결" 짓기 위한 강하고 자라나는 욕구를 느끼게 된다.

 

Examples of vocal tics include throat clearing, sniffing, grunting, barking, and verbalizing words or nonsensical sounds. In about 15 percent of cases, people with TS have outbursts of obscene words―a condition called coprolalia. TS patients may also repeat the words of others or their own words. Motor tics usually appear first and include shoulder shrugging, eye blinking, and nose twitching. More complex tics appear as a series of coordinated movements, such as picking up an object to smell it, or mimicking the actions of others. Even though they seem deliberate and may be mistaken for rude behavior, the person has no control ove them.

 

뚜렛 증후군은 유전적으로 연결되어 있으며 뚜렛 증후군 유전자를 가지고 잇는 부모는 50 퍼센트의 전달할 기회를 갖게 된다. 그러나 유전자를 받은 모든 사람이 심각한 증상을 겪지는 않을 것이다. 비록 그들의 정확한 원인은 불분명하지만, 환경적인 요인이 뚜렛증후군의 심각함을 결정하는데 도움을 주는 것 처럼 보인다.

 

If a person has had chronic, multiple tics for more than a year, a diagnosis of TS may be made. Most people do not need medication, but some benefit from taking neuroleptic drugs that block dopamine receptors in the brain. Medication may also be prescribed for related conditions, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obssesive-compulsive disorder, or depression―although treating these conditions often makes tics even worse. Talk therapy may help a patient cope with social and emotional problems, and studies show that it might help patients better control premonitory urges.

 

 

 

The professional baseball player Jim Eisenreich (1959- ) and the basketball player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (1969- ) both have Tourette syndrome but were able to continue playing their sports with the help of medication. Abdul-Rauf twice led the NBA in free-throw shooting percentage, a skill that some have suggested was linked to obsessive-compulsive traits brought on by TS.

 

The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) reportedly suffered from mood swings and tics and often wrote obscene letters to his cousin describing bodily functions, leading to speculation that he may have had Tourette syndrome.

 

In cases of twins with the TS gene, studies have shown that the twin who weighs less at birth tends to have more-severe tics later in life. This may be caused by differences in oxygen and nutrient levels in the babies' developing brains.