Many children develop a habit, spasm or tic which involves movements which are fast, sudden, unexpected and serve no purpose. The child appears to have no control over them.
The movements can include blinking, twitching of the nose or shrugging of the shoulders. Most of these habits spasms are minor and seem to disappear after several months.
However, in some children these tics are both severe and prolonged. They can involve grunting, throat-clearing and occasionally, uttering obscene words. Sometimes these children repeatedly touch themselves or others in the genital area or on the breast.
This bizarre behavior is extremely distressing to the child suffering from the problem and also to his parents. It is called the Tourette syndrome.
The cause is unknown, it is three times more common in boys than girls and there is some family tendency to it. Onset is usually before the age of 15.
Not all cases of mild habit spasms or tics can properly be labelled the Tourette syndrome, but those who have verbal spasms, particularly the uttering of obscene words, are diagnosed under this classification.
Sometimes children grow out of this, sometimes it persists. Fortunately one of the major tranquillising drugs, haloperidol, has proved of great value in treating this disorder.
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