Skip to main content
NCBI home page
American Journal of Human Genetics logoLink to American Journal of Human Genetics
. 1987 Nov;41(5):822–838.

A controlled study of Tourette syndrome. VI. Early development, sleep problems, allergies, and handedness.

D E Comings 1, B G Comings 1
PMCID: PMC1684348  PMID: 3479017

Abstract

Developmental milestones, problems with bladder and bowel control, sleep disturbances, allergies, and handedness were compared in 247 consecutive Tourette syndrome (TS) patients, 17 patients with attention-deficit disorder (ADD), 15 patients with ADD secondary to TS (ADD 2(0) TS), and 47 random controls. There were no significant differences in age of first talking or walking. By contrast, there were significant differences in problems with bladder and bowel control between TS patients and controls, as measured by age of first toilet training, age of last bed-wetting, frequency of enuresis, and age that bowel control was achieved. Sleep problems were pervasive in TS patients, with a significantly increased frequency of sleepwalking, night terrors, trouble getting to sleep, early awakening, and inability to take afternoon naps as a young child. In all diagnostic categories, including mild (grade 1) TS patients, a total sleep-problem score was significantly greater than that in controls. The sleep disorders and other TS symptoms are consistent with TS as a disorder of disinhibition of the limbic system. Allergies and left-handedness have been evoked as contributing to or being associated with ADD and learning disorders. There were no significant differences in the frequency of allergies or left-handedness in TS patients compared with that in controls. We conclude that when there is a clearly defined genetic cause of ADD and learning disorders, it is not associated with an increased frequency of allergies or left-handedness.

Full text

PDF
822

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Annett M. Genetic and nongenetic influences on handedness. Behav Genet. 1978 May;8(3):227–249. doi: 10.1007/BF01072826. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barabas G., Matthews W. S., Ferrari M. Disorders of arousal in Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. Neurology. 1984 Jun;34(6):815–817. doi: 10.1212/wnl.34.6.815. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Barabas G., Matthews W. S., Ferrari M. Somnambulism in children with Tourette syndrome. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1984 Aug;26(4):457–460. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.1984.tb04471.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bock R. D., Goldberger L. Tonic, phasic and cortical arousal in Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1985 Jun;48(6):535–544. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.48.6.535. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Broughton R. J. Sleep disorders: disorders of arousal? Enuresis, somnambulism, and nightmares occur in confusional states of arousal, not in "dreaming sleep". Science. 1968 Mar 8;159(3819):1070–1078. doi: 10.1126/science.159.3819.1070. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Comings D. E. A controlled study of Tourette syndrome. VII. Summary: a common genetic disorder causing disinhibition of the limbic system. Am J Hum Genet. 1987 Nov;41(5):839–866. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Comings D. E., Comings B. G. Tourette's syndrome and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity: are they genetically related? J Am Acad Child Psychiatry. 1984 Mar;23(2):138–146. doi: 10.1097/00004583-198403000-00004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Egger J., Carter C. M., Graham P. J., Gumley D., Soothill J. F. Controlled trial of oligoantigenic treatment in the hyperkinetic syndrome. Lancet. 1985 Mar 9;1(8428):540–545. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(85)91206-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Geschwind N., Behan P. Left-handedness: association with immune disease, migraine, and developmental learning disorder. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Aug;79(16):5097–5100. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.16.5097. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hashimoto T., Endo S., Fukuda K., Hiura K., Kawano N., Suzue J., Kokawa T., Miyao M. Increased body movements during sleep in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Brain Dev. 1981;3(1):31–35. doi: 10.1016/s0387-7604(81)80003-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jagger J., Prusoff B. A., Cohen D. J., Kidd K. K., Carbonari C. M., John K. The epidemiology of Tourette's syndrome: a pilot study. Schizophr Bull. 1982;8(2):267–278. doi: 10.1093/schbul/8.2.267. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Jankovic J., Glaze D. G., Frost J. D., Jr Effect of tetrabenazine on tics and sleep of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. Neurology. 1984 May;34(5):688–692. doi: 10.1212/wnl.34.5.688. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. LeMoal M., Stinus L., Galey D. Radiofrequency lesion of the ventral mesencephalic tegmentum: neurological and behavioral considerations. Exp Neurol. 1976 Mar;50(3):521–535. doi: 10.1016/0014-4886(76)90024-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mendelson W. B., Caine E. D., Goyer P., Ebert M., Gillin J. C. Sleep in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Biol Psychiatry. 1980 Apr;15(2):339–343. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Moldofsky H., Tullis C., Lamon R. Multiple tic syndrome (Giles de la Tourette's syndrome). J Nerv Ment Dis. 1974 Oct;159(4):282–292. doi: 10.1097/00005053-197410000-00007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Nee L. E., Caine E. D., Polinsky R. J., Eldridge R., Ebert M. H. Gilles de la Tourette syndrome: clinical and family study of 50 cases. Ann Neurol. 1980 Jan;7(1):41–49. doi: 10.1002/ana.410070109. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Oldfield R. C. The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia. 1971 Mar;9(1):97–113. doi: 10.1016/0028-3932(71)90067-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Shapiro A. K., Shapiro E., Wayne H. Birth, developmental, and family histories and demographic information in Tourette's syndrome. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1972 Nov;155(5):335–344. doi: 10.1097/00005053-197211000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sweet R. D., Solomon G. E., Wayne H., Shapiro E., Shapiro A. K. Neurological features of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1973 Feb;36(1):1–9. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.36.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Varley C. K. Diet and the behavior of children with attention deficit disorder. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry. 1984 Mar;23(2):182–185. doi: 10.1097/00004583-198403000-00009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Human Genetics are provided here courtesy of American Society of Human Genetics

RESOURCES