Tag: tics

Outcome after a child starts ticcing

Results from our prospective study of children with recent-onset tics were just published. Read all about it here: https://link.growkudos.com/1f99dltmtj4

Tourette survey May 1–3

We were asked to share this request: Pillar Patient Advocates has been asked to help with finding 3-4 parents/caregivers of children under 18, and 1-2 adults over 18 currently on a prescription treatment for Tourette Syndrome who are interested in participating in a 60 minute phone/web interview to share their experiences and opinions about treatments. […]

How many people would be interested in a commercial tic treatment device?

Neurotherapeutics Solutions Ltd., a start-up from our colleagues at the University of Nottingham (U.K.), is developing a wristwatch-like device for treating tics. Potential investors, however, tend to think that Tourette only affects kids, that only people with severe tics would want to buy such a device, and so on, so they figure the market would […]

Distinguishing between compulsions and complex tics

The answer is not simple. Often the answer is obvious–always washing your hands 5 times is a compulsion. Yelling “What’s that?!” many times a day because it just feels like you have to is a complex tic. Even when the phenomenology is less classic, one can usually tell them apart by asking why the person […]

Prognosis of tic disorders

We summarized what is known about the course of tic disorders over time, including what we know about predicting outcome in individual patients. Last year we published a review article that summarizes what is known about the important and common question, “hey, doc, will the tics get worse or go away?” Some of this information […]

A new treatment for TS (kind of)

Here’s a press release from the UK national health authority describing very positive interim results of the ORBIT study in England. It provides the best evidence yet for the efficacy of a behavior therapy called exposure and response prevention (ERP) for tics. ERP has been around for a long time, and is still a first-line […]

New research on tic timing

Tics happen in a fractal time pattern, even only a few months after tics begin. New work from our lab confirms that tics happen in a time pattern that is fractal. We explain the meaning of those words, the results, and their possible implications on this page. A press release from Wash.U. is available here. […]

International Tourettes Day

June 7 is International Tourettes Day! Today, we celebrate individuals and their families who have been impacted by Tourettes. Spread the word to your family and friends! To learn more about the global and individual impact of Tourette Syndrome, you can visit the YouTube channel of Tics and Tourettes across the Globe (TTAG).

Cool research result from the New Tics study

We just published results showing that brain structure, measured by MRI when we first met children with recent onset of tics, helped predict how much improvement there would be in a clinical rating scale for tics when the children returned at the 1-year anniversary of their first tic. Read more about it either here, written […]

TAA statement on PANDAS

The Tourette Association of America’s PANDAS/PANS Workgroup has issued a public statement about PANDAS. It succinctly summarizes the current state of evidence about this controversial diagnosis. A recommended read for anyone interested.

Tic Talk 2020 initial survey results

Below is a brief summary of the results from the first 21 people to take the survey. If you haven’t already responded, we’d love your input to help us design Tic Talk 2020 by taking this short 5-question survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8XT6Z7K Topics you are interested in: Tics and school: 76% How psychological factors or situations influence tics: […]

Help us plan content for Tic Talk 2020

Tic Talk 2020 is on! Saturday, May 2, 2020, at Wash. U. School of Medicine. We want to hear from you about what topics we should cover. Please take this short 5-question survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8XT6Z7K Thank you!

New web address!

The web page for the TAA Center of Excellence at Washington University in St. Louis is now available at tics.wustl.edu—easier to remember, we hope.

TAA Center of Excellence designation

In June of this year, the Tourette Association of America chose Washington University as a Center of Excellence! This designation recognizes the longstanding breadth and depth of expertise in patient care and research of our colleagues here at WUSTL and of the Greater Missouri TAA chapter. Hooray and thank you! However, we know we haven’t […]

“Rage attacks” in children with tics

A couple of our recent study volunteers had serious problems with what you could variously call sudden tantrums, explosive outbursts, or brief violence. Of course, kids with tics can have all the problems anyone else can have. But about 1 in 5 children with Tourette syndrome have experiences that have been called “rage attacks.” These rage […]

Thank you!

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, we would like to thank the many people who have been important to our work on Tourette syndrome and tic disorders here at Washington University. First, thank you to all of you who have been our patients over the years. You have taught us a great deal not only […]