Tourette Syndrome Essay Example for Free

Tourette Syndrome Essay Oliver Sacks writes in his book about Tourette syndrome as an inherited neurological disorder, it is a rare disease of the nerves, that starts from childhood it is noticeable by the repeated physical motor tics and vocal tics, these tics can become chronic, Tourette syndrome is a very serious disorder. Oliver Sacks in his book ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat’describes Tourette syndrome as a genetic condition that is inherited from parents, in the title story he writes about his patient with a perception disorder so strong that he really mistook his wife’s head for a hat, Dr. Sacks can best explain the disorders of the right hemisphere of the brain, cases in which tumors accidents, and unsoundness of mind lead to syndromes these disorders affect   the memory and perception of the victim affecting his personality and behavior, in this case Dr.P, was a music teacher whose perception of vision was lost, but his other sense was becoming strong as he could play music and was the music teacher till the end.(7-21), Dr. Sacks   later disclosed that his patient had a large tumor in the visual part of his brain. The cause of Tourette syndrome is not known, according to research it occurs when there is a problem of communication between the brain and the nerves. A disturbance in the balance of neurotransmitters, it is the chemical in the brain that carries nerve signals from cell to cell and that may be the cause of Tourette syndrome. Symptoms of Tourette are noticed by the sudden voluntary or involuntary movements, called motor tics and that can be simple or complex, with this there is one vocal tic also, these tics may last for a few minutes or a little longer, tics involve uncontrolled twitching of the muscles, simple tics are like eye blinking, leg jerking, clapping, coughing, repeated throat clearing; complex tics are sniffing sneezing making throaty sounds and jumping, throwing thing, tics may appear suddenly, and are recurring, and occur differently in each patient. Tics are sudden out bursts of abnormal behavior, vocal tics are Coprolalia (the utterance of abusive, and objectionable words), Echolalia (repeating words of others), and palilalia (repetition of one’s own words), the most common vocal and motor tics are eye blinking and throat clearing. Tourette is diagnosed when the person has multiple motor tics. Dr.Sacks cites that creativity, imagination, and inventiveness good memory   are some examples of writers, artists, athletes, having Tourette may be able to manage their tics and control at the time of their work.(Meyers,1998), Sacks gives one such example of a disc jockey who while off air, uttered obscene words but, when he was on air he would be normal, Sacks points out that the disc jockey is able to use his vocal tic to his advantage with creative skill as a positive part of his job performance, his Tourette works as an advantage for him.   Tourette occurs   with other problems such as, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, depression, obsession   which causes misbehavior, but the main cause is unknown, the tics start from childhood and may be worst in early teens, many people eventually outgrow them, usually treatment is not needed unless the tics interfere with everyday life, medicine, talk therapy and focused activities may help, some people have severe long lasting tics that can persist for more than a year and this chronic tic disorder is a part of a condition called Tourette Syndrome. Social acceptance is necessary and vital part of rehabilitation of such patients, family and people and employers must have some knowledge of the disorders so as to accommodate them; concerning knowledge is available through books, Judy Cohen (1998). in her booklet writes a general over view of many disabilities without focusing any one person. Doctor Oliver Sacks is a famous neurologist working primarily in treatment of patients with neurological disorders; Tourette syndrome is a neurological condition, it is usually misunderstood, and misdiagnosed, and mistreated. Tourette is sometimes diagnosed as acute anxiety, schizophrenia and asthma , the evaluator suspects that the person has Tourette than he must ask for previous   patient history and reports and the evaluator must discuss it with the medical consultant, people who are diagnosed with Tourette frequently have motor disorder along with visual defects,(Bronheim,1991), difficulties with impulse control, various learning disabilities and sleep disorders, the range of tics like symptoms that occur in Tourette’s Syndrome are often confusing to the family members, friends, teachers and employers who may find it hard to believe that the actions and vocal utterances are not deliberate, tics may be worse at certain times of the day or while doing certain work, and th e person might be exerting great restraint and energy to suppress the tics and to control the effects of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior. Tourette Syndrome is a very complex condition, there is   no cure for it at this time, though there is increased awareness of this disorder and rehabilitation process is considered to provide help to such patients, it is necessary to help such patients to normalcy, to help them to cope with daily life and work as stress and physical exhaustion increases the occurrence of tics therefore the rehabilitation personnel teach effective stress management techniques to control their impulsive acts. Medications are used to decrease the intensity and frequency of tics, drugs used for the treatment of other conditions sometimes have side effects and may cause lethargy and weight gain, sometimes medicines can aggravate the Tourette’s syndrome and cause increased tics. Generally tics are classified as either simple or complex, which involves more muscles than the simple tics, the symptoms usually start from childhood. Since the beginning of science the brain has been a complex wonder to understand, new findings, and new discoveries, are always changing to help us know and learn more about the working of the brain. Oliver Sacks, in his book ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,’ we read about the sufferings of those with neurological diseases, it is the case study of all his patients who are mentioned in the book are affected by Tourette’s syndrome. Sacks is interested in   his patients and their disorders, he has written these case studies to teach normal people, to understand and accommodate   and help such patients, he describes the neurological diseases of the people, their struggle and suffering to survive with the neurological defects.   These patients never lost their spiritual ability though they are the victims of disorder, the ability to rejoice is never lost , Dr. Sacks has written about many patients in this book, like ‘The Lost Mariner† (22-41) Jimmie could not remember anything for more than two minutes, he could only remember things thirty years old, he was suffering from amnesia; after frequent visits with Dr. Sacks he became calm and found some reality, in what Dr.Sacks referred to as â€Å"absoluteness of spiritual attention and act†(page38), though Jimmie was the victim of   nerve disorders yet his inner self the person beneath this disorder was very much real, all the stories writte n by Dr. Sacks are informative and interesting. Tourettes syndrome cannot be underlined as a degrading disease, today there are many people living and diseased who are associated with Tourette syndrome, it is believed that the syndrome may have helped in their success. Usually when one sense is not working properly, other senses become strong and the patient can use his strong sense to his advantage.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   . The treatment basically involves management of the troubling symptoms the patient is enduring, some cases are mild in nature and do not need pharmacological treatment, but they do need psychological treatment, awareness and talk therapy are helpful in such cases. As there is no cure for Tourette’s syndrome, there is no universal medicine for it, help is needed to avoid social isolation, the patient must have full support and understanding from family, friends, school, Church and the surrounding community and neighbors. The most important part of living with this disorder is social acceptance. Circumstantial evidence show that Mozart and Samuel Johnson had the Syndrome, both were, creators in their own fields despite   having Tourette’s  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   syndrome, the personality and creativity how deeply are related to the Tourette Syndrome is yet to be assessed. Though there is no medicine as a cure for Tourette,   yet some medication can be given to decrease the frequency of the tics, these medications make the patient sleepy lethargic and ,they gain weight, sometimes medications can have negative affect and it is difficult to get a proper level of medicine that can control the symptoms. The Internet, movies and television are responsible for the distorted images about the people with the Tourette syndrome. The entertainment industry always presents people with Tourettes as misfits, very few have understanding for such people, the Quincy, M.E. ‘Seldom Silent, Never Heard’ was the correct representation of Tourette’s syndrome many people with tics recognized their symptoms and got a correct diagnosis other shows that helped to advance true information about Tourette’s are L. A. Law, The Practice and 7th Heaven. Several documentaries have been made to depict accurate symptoms and the need for understanding and support for such people, though some shows have been labeled as exploiting the syndrome, some talk shows as the ‘Oprah Winfrey show’ focused on accurate portrayal of people with Tourette syndrome. The Tics disorders can only be managed by knowledge, education, and understanding and recognizing Tourette syndrome in the people suffering with, control management is the solution to the Tics problem, educating the family is the main strategy for treatment and sometimes only that is enough..     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  . Reference      Bagheri, M.M., Kerbeshian, J., Burd, L.(1999a). Recognition and management of Tourette’s syndrome and tic disorders. American family physician, 15 (8), 2263-72. Bronheim, S. (1991). An Educator’s guide to Tourette Syndrome. Journal of Learning Disablities, 24(1), 17-22 Cohen, Judy (1998), Disability etiquette: Tips on interacting with people with disabilities. Published by Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association. Marneros, A. (1983).Adult onset of Tourette syndrome: A case report. American Journal of psychiatry, 140 (7), 924-925. Meyers, A.(1998) Serving clients with Tourette syndrome: A manual for service provided for tourette syndrome Association, Inc. Bayside, NY. Murrey, J.B.(1997).Psychophysiological aspects of Tourette’s syndrome. The Journal of psychology, 131 (6), 615-626. Robertson, M. (2000). Tourette syndrome, associated conditions and the complexities of   treatment.Brain,123 (3), 425-462. Sacks, O. (1992 Tourette’s syndrome and creativity: Exploiting the ticcy witticisms and witty ticcicisms. British Medical Journal, 305 (6868 ), 1515-1516. Sacks Oliver, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, published by Touchstone 1998, pg.7-21 Stell, R., Thickbroom,   G.W., Masstaglia, F. L., (1995). The audiogenic startle response to Tourette’s Syndrome. Movement Disorders, 10, 723-730 Wand, R.R., Matazow, G.a., Shady, P., Furer, Staley, D. (1993). Tourette syndrome: Associated symptoms and most disabling features. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews,17, 271-275. Zinner, S.H. (2000).   Tourette   Disorder. 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