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Pharmaceutical Interventions for Tourette’s Syndrome

  • Tourette's Syndrome (TS Zeiger, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Tourette’s syndrome is a childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics that are chronic (duration of >1 year) (Kurlan N Engl J Med. 363:2332; Jankovic and Kurlan Mov Disord. 26:1149; Diagnostic and statistical manual of psychiatry. 4th ed.). Tics are commonly associated with obsessive–compulsive symptoms and disturbances of attention. In many children with Tourette’s syndrome, tics are mild and not disabling, and education about the condition with supportive counseling is sufficient. However, tics can be disabling by causing social embarrassment, school bullying, isolation, and sometimes conflict. Some tics are painful, and some can be self-injurious. When tics are disabling, tic-suppressing therapy is indicated which can be behavioral therapy and/or pharmacotherapy. Treatment of associated ADHD and OCD symptoms is also warranted when they are disabling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA

    Laura Duda & Gayatra Mainali

Authors
  1. Laura Duda
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  2. Gayatra Mainali
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Correspondence to Gayatra Mainali.

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Laura Duda and Gayatra Mainali declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Tourette’s Syndrome

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Duda, L., Mainali, G. Pharmaceutical Interventions for Tourette’s Syndrome. Curr Dev Disord Rep 3, 213–216 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-016-0098-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-016-0098-2

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