Cheryl Richards edited Phenomenology.md  about 8 years ago

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More research is being conducted that follows the developmental progression of TS and its comorbidities. This work may provide clues that help clarify what factors contribute to the appearance and disappearance of transient tics and what factors contribute to the developmental decline in tic severity with the result that most TS adults have only mild, if any, tics.  Baby videos were used in a study in Italy of 34 children who were exhibiting autistic behaviors in their second year of life \citep{26246137}. Families reported that development during the first year of life had been normal and they donated videos that had been recorded before these children were 6 months old. Videos of 18 boys were examined in detail. General movements, which are spontaneously generated by central pattern generators and modulated by more rostral brain regions, could be assessed only in 14. abnormal 14 based on the videos provided. Abnormal general movements were seen  in 7 of the 11 8  boys who were eventually diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. In contrast, normal general movements were seen in disorder while  the8 boys who had some  autistic features and 7 behaviors in five  of these boys were later diagnosed the six  with Tourette syndrome. Four normal general movements were transient. Although 11  of the boys who 18 subjects  were eventually diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder TS, 3 of the TS subjects had inadequate baby videos for evaluating general movements. Of the remaining 8, five  had exhibited normal general movements. Given that several  TS as a comorbidity. These subjects had comorbid ASD the abnormal movements in this subgroup might have been associated with the presence of autism. However, these  results, combined with the nearly ubiquitous availability of home baby videos in some cultures, suggest that a similar pseudo-prospective study design could be used to identify behavioral  features predicting later development of TS. The clinical characteristics of children who developed TS before the age of 4 were compared with those who were older than 6 at tic onset \citep{26596364}. The younger group had a higher rate of stuttering, other speech dysfluencies (e.g., speech initiation difficulties, speech prolongation), and oppositional defiant disorder. There was no difference between the two groups in rate prevalence  of ADHD or obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Interestingly, the early-onset group was more likely to have a mother with tics. The authors suggested a number of possible explanations. These hypotheses include the idea that this difference in onset age might be related to mother sensitivity to the child's symptoms resulting in tics being diagnosed at a younger age or possible prenatal or perinatal environmental factors. An alternative explanation may be related to the fact that TS is much less common in girls than in boys. Consequently, tics in a woman may represent a higher genetic load, resulting in a more severe form of tics and an earlier age of onset in her children. Researchers re-evaluated 75 TS patients previously seen at a University-based clinic, with a mean follow-up of 9 years \citep{25193042}. This study found that reported TS impairment was more likely to decrease over time in males and increase in females. In addition, women were more likely than men to have tics in adulthood in various body regions, primarily the upper extremities. This result suggests that gender continues to influence TS symptoms beyond adolescence.