Several prominent scientists from Yale and other institutes will meet to discover new ways to treat Tourette Syndrome (TS)
A conference is being organized at Washington D.C. on September 10, 11&12, by Yale School of Medicine. Several prominent scientists from Yale and other institutes will meet to discover new ways to treat Tourette Syndrome (TS), a familial neurological disorder that begins in childhood and is characterized by chronic motor and vocal tics.
The characteristics of TS are blinking, facial movements, head jerking, throat clearing, coughing, grunting, and other brief noises. TS is not life threatening, but it can cause social isolation, particularly in children.The chairperson of the forthcoming conference on identifying new treatments for TS, is Lawrence Scahill, professor of nursing and child psychiatry at Yale. Scientists from and outside the TS domain, will come together to discuss the latest findings in neuroscience to improvise the current treatment for tics.
"We have assembled a group of experts across a range of basic science and clinical fields who probably would not otherwise interact with each other," Scahill said. "By the end of the conference we hope to have new directions for the treatment for TS."
Over the past decade there has been a convergence of evidence from neuroimaging, neuropathology, genetics, and behavioral neuroscience about the neurobiology of TS. However, these advances have not yet had much impact on treatment. Research projects at Yale and at several other centers around the world are actively testing various treatments for TS, but new approaches are needed.
Once considered a rare and severe disorder, TS is now viewed as a disorder that ranges from mild to severe, affecting an estimated six of every 1,000 school-age children. Although many children will show a mild variant of TS, as many as one child in 1,000 in the United States may have tics that interfere with every day living.
The most effective medications are antipsychotic drugs with potent dopamine blocking properties. These medications, however, may be associated with sedation, weight gain, and neurological effects. Other types of medications have been used with variable results. "Clearly, it is time for recent findings from cutting edge neuroscience to inform new treatments for TS," Scahill said.
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