A great amount of research has been completed with people who suffer from Tourette’s Syndrome on learning to control or suppress symptoms. The vast majority of people suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome develop tics that are completely involuntary, although some people have developed methods to suppress, manage, or otherwise camouflage their tics in an effort to reduce the impact this disorder has on their lives. Often, the ability to suppress the symptoms of Tourette’s Syndrome comes later in life, usually during a patient’s late teens. However, it is not yet known if suppressing these symptoms is healthy; many people who have attempted to do so have developed a type of “build up” of stress, tension, and experience more severe tics.

It is arguable whether or not to try and teach a child to suppress Tourette’s Syndrome symptoms. It is also very important to remain calm when your child is experiencing any type of symptom as any action or outburst can increase their level of stress or could push them to internalize the stress or tension that they are trying to express.

The most common form of Tourette’s Syndrome is a tic disorder known as “transient tic disorder;” this disorder can affect one out of 10 children during early development stages. This tic disorder is often most prevalent in children between the first and sixth grades. Often, teachers and parents notice these minor tics and yet these caregivers will often assume that the tics represent nervousness.Sometimes, transient tics will go away by themselves but in many cases they become more severe with anxiety.

All the above are pretty much standard knowledge in the professional community. My goal was to find a way – an underlying reason if you will – that could explain tics and associate them with lack of nutritional value in our everyday meals. I was convinced (but hadn’t proved it originally) that the fact that western societies tend to have a much bigger problem lied in their nutrition.

I finally succeeded I believe, to prove that by proper dietary changes and habits, tics can disappear for good! Kevin is a living proof and so are all the people who kindly (thanks guys!!!) sent me testimonials to prove the point.

Ok, enough of “blowing my own horn” ! lol ….

Catch you later!

God Bless,

Mary

                  

Many children who suffer from Tourette’s Syndrome also experience other neurological behavioral problems. Often, children who suffer from Tourette’s Syndrome will also be diagnosed with hyperactivity disorders such as ADHD, also known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This disorder was recently discovered and is commonly treated with medication such as Ritalin.

ADHD usually shows its head during early childhood, generally around elementary level school. The children will start having difficulty keeping focus or paying attention to information provided to them. Roughly 3% to 5% of all children have ADHD, which would constitute nearly 2 million children in the United States. The primary symptoms of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity – all symptoms that will usually show themselves in children with Tourette’s Syndrome.

Children with Tourette’s also often display signs of OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). This is an anxiety disorder often characterized by recurring obsessions (or unwanted thoughts), and/or compulsive behavior (repetitive, uncontrollable behavior). People afflicted with this disorder might count the number of times they brush their teeth – and require that they brush the same number of times each time. They are often cleaning, checking on things, washing their hands, or counting. They often develop daily ritual behaviors and adhere to them strictly or else their anxiety levels will rise sharply.

Both OCD and ADHD behaviors are often shown in a person with Tourette’s Syndrome. And no wonder! Several genetic studies have shown that OCD and ADHD are genetically linked to the Tourette’s Syndrome – they have similar genetic structures, backgrounds, and effects. People with Tourette’s will often demonstrate both OCD and ADHD characteristics.

At the genetic level, it has also been determined that Tourette’s Syndrome is an inherited disorder. Parents who have Tourette’s (or had it when younger and grew out of it) will often have children with Tourette’s. It is also more likely that if a relative has Tourette’s, a child might have Tourette’s. However, it is unlikely that a genetic disposition will results in a severe Tourette’s Syndrome disorder. In the majority of cases Tourette’s Syndrome is expressed through minor tics or as an obsessive-compulsive behavior.

More than genetics, the sex of the person plays a larger role in their risk of being diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome. It is far more likely for an at-risk male to develop Tourette’s Syndrome than it is for an at-risk female. It is also far more likely that an at-risk female develops obsessive-compulsive symptoms than it is for an at-risk male.

It is very important that a person who is suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome has some type of genetic counseling so that they can better understand the potential hereditary problems and conditions that exist in the family.

But there is good news!…. actually great news: In the vast majority of cases the symptoms can be treated effectively with simple diet changes.

                  

There are two types of tics, as we currently understand them. One is a simple tic. The other is a complex tic. A simple tic is very similar to how it sounds. It is usually a tic of the body that is sudden, brief, and repetitive. These tics are, for the most part, just annoying for a person afflicted with the Syndrome. Your child may feel foolish when these tics occur because they will feel as if he or she has no control over one part of his or her body and cannot stop the movement or action at all.

A very common simple tic is a blinking eye. The child’s eye will blink suddenly, rapidly, and repetitively. It can be disruptive as he or she will have difficulty keeping focus while the eye is blinking so rapidly – and it can be very distracting to someone watching the child. Other simple tics include involuntary facial expressions or twitches (cheeks and mouths are particularly susceptible), involuntary shoulder movement (such as a jerk at the shoulder socket over and over, a twinge in the muscles of the arm, shoulder, or forearm, etc), or an involuntary head movement (such as a sudden and repetitive jerk of the head to one side).

A simple tic may also include vocalizations, but it is unlikely that, in these types of tics, the words will be understandable or coherent. For the most part, they are sudden and repetitive grunting noises or other sounds that emanate from the throat or nasal passages. It can also be a clucking of the tongue.

Complex tics are different altogether. They are definitely much more distinct. They involve a coordinated pattern of movements or sounds that involve many more muscles than a simple tic will use. A physical complex motor tic can involve a face grimace, but will include involuntary body movement as well, such as shoulders jerking or arms waving. A complex tic can also appear to have some type of purpose, such as brushing up against objects, bending, appearing to listen carefully, jumping, or twisting, but it is important to remember that these actions are involuntary.

Almost all vocal tics are considered complex tics. Complex vocal tics can include words and/or phrases; these words or phrases can seem as though they are purposeful, but just as the physical tics are involuntary, it is important to remember that these verbal outbursts are completely involuntary. When viewing movies or television shows that have Tourette’s, they are often displaying people who experience complex verbal tics in the form of obscenities.

The most dramatic type of complex tic is a tic that involves motor movement that can result in self-harm. Many people suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome can develop a complex tic where the symptoms involve physical motor tics such as punching one’s self, tapping an object too hard repeatedly, banging the head against something, hitting the ground uncontrollably, picking at one’s self involuntarily, or any other number of physical actions which could cause damage. These tics can often result in severe physical pain, which can in turn increase stress levels and increase the severity of the tics. That is why it is especially important, when dealing with children, to try not to increase their day-to-day stress levels. By maintaining regular low day-to-day stress levels, it is possible to reduce the severity of symptoms that is child suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome episodes and involuntary actions.

                  

Tourette’s Syndrome is often characterized by a series of physical and at least one verbal tic. These tics often vary in severity, but it is common for a child suffering of Tourette’s Syndrome to have good days where tics may be not be noticeable and other days where the tics take up the majority of the child’s attention.

It was once believed that Tourette’s Syndrome was a rare or bizarre Syndrome. Many of the early diagnoses of Tourette’s Syndrome only included patients that were severely suffering and most of the patients who were diagnosed as having Tourette’s were only experiencing vocal tics. It was later discovered that this particular symptom or tic is only present in a small percentage of the people afflicted with Tourette’s Syndrome. Many people, including children, may only suffer from small and minor physical tics. In children, these small physical tics may disappear as the child approaches adulthood. Nearly 1 in 100 children suffer from some form of Tourette’s Syndrome. The vast majority of these cases have been considered mild disorders and will go away with time and development.

A French doctor named Dr. Tourette reported the first case of Tourette’s Syndrome in 1825 with a patient named Marquise de Dampierre. Dampierre was a very prominent and wealthy noblewoman in her time, well known by others in high society. An influential French physician assigned one of his resident doctors and neurologists, Georges Albert Édouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette, to study Marquise, as it was believed that she was suffering from an illness extremely different from hysteria or dementia. It was through studying this noblewoman that Dr. Tourette was able to discover the distinct differences between the other currently known mental illnesses and the particular disorder being experienced by Dampierre.

Dr. Tourette found others with similar problems to Dampierre and continued studying them. It was not until 1885 that Dr. Tourette first published his account of nine separate patients. The article was titled, “Study of the Nervous Affliction.” Through this publication, Dr. Tourette concluded it was now necessary to create a new clinical category and named the Syndrome experienced by Dampierre: Tourette’s Syndrome.

Interestingly, he was quite right that this Syndrome is a “nervous affliction.” The Syndrome is definitely a neurological disorder and relates to how the nervous system interacts with the rest of the body. Even in the 1800’s, Dr. Tourette was capable of noticing the connection.

Even though Tourette’s Syndrome was recognized as a specific affliction, there was very little progress during the following century to assist in explaining a reason behind the different tics or what exactly caused Tourette’s Syndrome. They also had very little in methods of how to treat such patients and many of these afflicted persons simply lived with their symptoms.

Added to this lack of knowledge and therapy was the fact that few people were aware of the Syndrome to begin with. As most people did not know what Tourette’s was or why it happened, they often reacted unfavorably when faced with a person afflicted with the disorder. They might react in fear, anger, frustration, or in other negative manners, which greatly increased the afflicted person’s stress levels and thereby, causing the symptoms to increase in severity.

A turning point came in the research about Tourette’s Syndrome in 1965 when Arthur K. Shapiro began treating a Tourette’s patient with a medication that had been newly applied to psychoactive patients and was still currently undergoing research, haloperidol. Shapiro later published a study, which indicated that new methods needed to be considered for treatment of all tic-related symptoms. He also criticized the generally accepted psychoanalytic approach and the research currently conducted on Tourette’s.

In the 1990s, medical research created a more neutral view of Tourette’s Syndrome, which helped the at-risk people in increasing the understanding of their exact vulnerability. During the research that took place in the 1990s, it was discovered that, while there are specific biological vulnerabilities, it is possible that adverse environmental effects greatly influenced the likelihood of Tourette’s and severity of symptoms for any of its Syndrome. There was such an increase in understanding of Tourette’s Syndrome as well as all tic related disorders by 2000 that the American Psychiatric Association published a statement that these symptoms or disorders unnecessarily cause distress or impair functioning. This made it possible for many people suffering for current Syndrome to live more of a normal lifestyle.

Many questions remain regarding how exactly Tourette’s Syndrome will be classified. It is also still yet to be determined how Tourette’s Syndrome is related to other similar movement disorders or other unrelated psychiatric disorders. Over the last 20 years, there has been a great amount of research conducted and amazing advancements in potential treatments. Even so, there are currently no available treatments that are completely risk-free and many of the different available treatment options can result in more severe symptoms or are completely intolerable.

If you or someone you care for is affected by TS you can have a look at my Guide: End Your Child’s Tics With Diet Change. I developed the guide after years of research into the natural treatments and after speaking with many specialists in both holistic and traditional medicine.

Till next time….

God Bless,

Mary

                  

Even though you may not commonly encounter a person with Tourette’s Syndrome in your day-to-day life, it is still important to be well informed on what Tourette’s is and why it causes such behavior in those afflicted with the Syndrome.

However, if you are dealing with children who have this Syndrome, your need for information on Tourette’s becomes increasingly more urgent. What is this Syndrome? What is causing the child to have these involuntary behavior actions? How are you to deal with it? Are there any treatment options you can seek? How are you, as a parent, caregiver, or close family friend, to deal with the child? What can and can’t you do with this child? How will it affect your ability to go out in public with this child? Do all Tourette’s afflicted children act the same way? Do they all have the same tics?

As a parent with a child who has just recently shown signs of Tourette’s, you are undoubtedly feeling confused, frustrated, ignorant, and, let’s be honest, a little afraid. It’s not that you are afraid of your child, but you are definitely afraid for your child in his or her future. Calm down, take a deep breathe, and let this new information sinks in.

To start with, you will need to know more about Tourette’s in order to know how to deal with a child afflicted by it. Tourette’s in real life is not quite the same as Tourette’s in movies or television. For example, not all Tourette’s afflicted people experience the need to shout obscenities. This is usually done in movies and television for the effect – not for the accuracy.

We are in this together!

Mary