Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Tourette Sdr. - Causes

Causes of Tourette syndrome are not fully known, but it seems thatgenetic factors play an important role.
If one parent carries the gene that causes disease, the child has a 50% risk of developing Tourette syndrome. However, the child will not necessarily develop the disease, because other genetic andenvironmental factors are also involved. Boys presents a greater risk of being affected, while girls may suffer fromobsessive-compulsive disorder. The child will not inherit parentstics, but will show more. Although there are many genes involved in the syndrome, only one of them is known.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit hyperactivityare common in patients with Tourette syndrome and can causemore serious trouble than the disease itself.

The latest research regarding the etiology of Tourette syndromefocuses on neurochimiei. It seems that the syndrome is the result ofmalfunctions of neurotransmitters (dopamine and serotonin).

The discovery of low levels of dopamine metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid led to the conclusion that Tourette syndrome is the result of a hypersensitivity of postsynaptic dopamine receptors.

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