Nervous System: Tourette's Syndrome

Tourette's Syndrome

Common Name: Tourette's, TS, GTS, Tourette's disorder.

Age of Onset: Before the individual is 21.

Common in both male and female

Duration: lifetime

Cause: Tourette's is often associated with obsessive-compulsive symptomatology, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other behavioral problems, although these are not part of the current diagnostic criteria. The cause is unknown, but it is well established that genetic and environmental factors of involved. No one gene has been linked to tourette's.

Symptoms: Motor tics can be so simple as forceful eye blinking or so severe as bending over and touching the ground. Vocal tics are normally unintelligible sounds, such as sniffing, grunting or throat clearing, but they can also be intense, such as uttering whole phrases. Other complex phenomena include coprolalia, copropaxia, echolalia, echopraxia, and palilalia.

Prognosis: Since there is no cure for Tourette's, the condition in many individuals improves in the late teens and early 20s. Some may become symptom-free or no longer need medication for tic suppression. Although the disorder is generally lifelong and chronic, it is not a degenerative condition. Individuals with Tourette's have a normal life expectancy. Although tic symptoms tend to decrease with age, it is possible that neurobehavioral disorders such as depression, panic attacks, mood swings, and antisocial behaviors can develop.

Treatment Options: Individuals with life-disrupting symptoms can often takes several drugs that affect the chemistry of the brain: Haldol, Catapres, Orap, Prolixin, Anafranil, and Prozac. These medications have side effects that can be life-disrupting themselves. Family counseling and psychotherapy can help the individuals cope with this disease and deal with the social stigma associated with Tourette's.

Website: http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/433/main.html#CausesandRiskFactorsofTourette

Muscular System: Tetanus

Tetanus

Common Name: Lockjaw

Age of onset: any

Duration: People who have tetanus must be treated in a hospital. Severe muscle spasms may last for about three to four weeks and then slowly get better. Once these spasms subside, recovery takes several months.

Tetanus is common in both males and females.

Cause: Tetanus is caused by a bacteria called Clostridium tetani. The bacterial spores are found in soil, street dust, and in animal feces. These spores are transmitted to humans through simple cuts. Once the spores are inside the body they beome active and release a toxin into the blood stream. This disease can also be transmitted through animal scratches and bites, surgical wounds, and even dental work.

Symptoms: The first symtom is usually a locked or stiff jaw. The patient is unalbe to open thier mouth or swallow. The stiffeness then spreads through the neck and other muscles of the body. The patient often goes through uncontrollable spasms. These spasms can be severe to cause broken bones. Other symptoms are loss of appetite, irritability, drooling, and restlessness.

Prognosis: 30% of individuals in the United States with tetanus die. Early diagnosis and treatment helps the chance of survival immensly. The death rate of infants who develop tetanus is 90%.

Treatment Options: Immune globulin is the immediate treatment of unimmunized individuals exposed to material likely to contain bacteria. Treatment also includes bed rest and quiet conditions. Penicillin is aslo used to eradicate the bacteria. Sedation and mechanical ventilation may be used to control the spasms. Tetanus is a totally preventable disease by using active immunization.

Website: http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/291/main.html#TreatmentofTetanus