How common is Tourettes Syndrome?
June 4, 2009 — Tourette’s syndrome afflicts three out of every 1,000 children between ages 6 and 17 in the United States, the CDC says in its first-ever estimate of the prevalence of the neurological disorder. The findings are revealed in the June 5 edition of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. According to the MMWR study, Tourette’s syndrome is three times more common in boys than in girls, and about twice as common in children 12 to 17 as in those 6 to 11. Twenty-seven percent of children with Tourette’s syndrome have moderate or severe cases, the study says, and 79% of youngsters who have it also have been diagnosed with at least one additional mental health or neuro developmental condition. Tourette’s syndrome typically starts in childhood and is characterized by recurring multiple motor tics, and at least one vocal tic. Symptoms are generally most severe between 10 and 12 years of age and lessen by adulthood. These are involuntary, repetitive, stereotyped, usually s
