Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome and its impact in the UK

• Published in: Postgraduate Medical Journal Vol. 81; no. 951; pp. 12 - 19
• Main Authors: Stern, J S, Burza, S, Robertson, M M
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: London The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine 01.01.2005; BMJ; Oxford University Press; BMJ Group
• Subjects: 4th edition; ADHD; Adolescent; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; BAD; Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; bipolar affective disorder; Child; Child, Preschool; Confidence intervals; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; DSM-IV-TR; fMRI; functional magnetic resonance imaging; GABHS; General aspects; genetics; Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome; group A β-haemolytic streptococcal; Humans; Medical sciences; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Neurology; non-obscene socially inappropriate; NOSI; obsessive compulsive behaviour; obsessive compulsive disorder; OCB; OCD; paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcus; PANDAS; PET; Population; positron emission tomography; Psychiatrists; Psychopathology; Quality of Life; Review; single photon emission tomography; SPET; Studies; text revised; Tourette syndrome; Tourette Syndrome - epidemiology; Tourette Syndrome - etiology; Tourette Syndrome - psychology; Tourette Syndrome - therapy; United Kingdom - epidemiology; United Kingdom; Europe; United Kingdom > UK; Medicine; Gilles de la Tourette syndrome; Nervous system diseases; Degenerative disease; Central nervous system disease; Cerebral disorder
• ISSN: 0032-5473; 1469-0756
• DOI: 10.1136/pgmj.2004.023614

Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome of chronic multiple motor and vocal tics is now acknowledged to be far more common than once thought, affecting up to 1% of schoolchildren with a wide range of severity. At the milder end of the spectrum the associated psychopathologies can in themselves impair social and educational functioning, in particular obsessive compulsive disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Many patients with this condition are not being adequately served by health and education services in the UK. The epidemiology, clinical features, aetiological factors, and management of the syndrome are reviewed.