Tourette's syndrome is a multifaceted disorder that affects 0.6%-1% of the global population. Across their lifespan, affected individuals suffer a worse quality of life than the general population. The hallmarks of the disease are motor and vocal/phonic tics. The severity of the tics is influenced by stressful life events, anxiety, fatigue, and behavioral co-morbidities, more commonly attention-deficit hyperactive disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Although a psychoanalytic etiological view prevailed into the 20th century, the disease is now recognized as a neurodevelopmental motor disorder at the crossroads between neurology, neuropediatrics, and neuropsychiatry. Recent neuroimaging data also suggest a defect in brain maturation. The etiology of the disease is now explained by both genetic factors and, to a lesser extent, environmental influences. While there is no cure, there are a number of medical treatments (including non-medicine behavioral treatments) that can be effective at reducing tics or helping to manage co-occurring conditions. However, there is no one medication that is helpful to all people with Tourette, nor does any medication completely eliminate symptoms. Tics may improve as a result of treatments that include behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy, and functional neurosurgery (deep brain stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation, cranial electrotherapy stimulation, and continuous theta-burst stimulation). If tic symptoms are mild and do not cause impairment, there may be no need for treatment. Treatment is necessary when individuals experience physical discomfort, functional dysfunction, and poor interpersonal interaction and mental health. While Tourette is not life-threatening, tics and their associated co-morbidities affect physical and mental health and their social interactions. While the prognosis has been extensively researched, prognostic indicators carry clinical significance in terms of helping to inform patients of the long-term outcomes of their disorder, and directing their follow-up and management.
Fymat, Alain L.: - DR. ALAIN L. FYMAT is a medical-physical scientist and an educator. He is the current President/ CEO and Institute Professor at the International Institute of Medicine & Science with a previous appointment as Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer and Professor at the Weil Institute ofCritical Care Medicine, California, U.S.A. He was formerly Professor of Radiology, Radiological Sciences, Radiation Oncology, Critical Care Medicine, and Physics at several U.S. and European Universities. Earlier, he was Deputy Director (Western Region) of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (Office of Research Oversight). At the Loma Linda Veterans Affairs Medical Center, he was Scientific Director of Radiology, Director of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center and, for a time, Acting Chair of Radiology. Previously, he was Director of the Division of Biomedical and Biobehavioral Research at the University of California at Los Angeles/Drew University of Medicine and Science. He was also Scientific Advisor to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, for its postdoctoral programs tenable at the California Institute of Technology and Member of the Advisory Group for Research & Development, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He is Health Advisor to the American Heart & Stroke Association, Coachella Valley Division, California. He is a frequent Keynote Speaker and Organizing Committee member at several international scientific/medical conferences. He has lectured extensively in the U.S.A, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He has published in excess of 575 scholarly scientific publications and books. He is also Editor-in-Chief, Honorable Editor or Editor of numerous medical/scientific Journals to which he regularly contributes. He is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and the European Union Academy of Sciences, a Board member of several institutions, and a reviewer for the prestigious UNESCO Newton Prize, United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO.
