Gilles de la Tourette described the syndrome that bears his name in the late 19th century . He showed it was a hereditary disorder and clearly identified many of its major features.

George Albert Edouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette (1857-1904) was a neurologist living in France and was the first to diagnose and describe TS. He made several valuable contributions to medicine and literature. He was a dynamic, passionately outspoken man whose prodigious literary output reflected his own restless compulsions.

Tourette gave a description of the Marquise de la Dampierre, a noble woman whose symptoms included coprolalia (the utterance of swear words). As a result of her symptoms, the marquis lived an unhappy existence as a social recluse and died at the age of 85. Her noble birth and wealth most likely protected her from a far worse fate. Many less fortunate Tourette sufferers have been harassed, incarcerated, and perhaps even burned as witches.

Of interest is that it has been convincingly speculated that Dr Samuel Johnson, the prominent 18th century literary figure, was afflicted with TS.

Prevalence

Tourette Syndrome was once thought to be a rarity, but is now being more widely recognised and therefore diagnosed. The exact number of people with TS is unknown, but until recently a figure of 1 in thousand was widely accepted. However, the most current studies have recently demonstrated a prevalence of around 1% in schoolchildren. The severity of TS symptoms is very variable but even in mild cases some of the co-existing problems such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can disrupt education and work. The apparent increase in the number of people with TS reported in recent years is explained by the fact that people now being diagnosed tend to be those with milder symptoms. In addition, with TS now having a high media profile, the public is being better educated and can relatively easily diagnose themselves using the internet.

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