Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Tourette Syndrome
If you have Tourette syndrome, you make unusual movements or sounds, called tics. You have little or no control over them. Common tics are throat-clearing and blinking. You may repeat words, spin, or, rarely, blurt out swear words.
Tourette syndrome is a disorder of the nervous system. It often occurs with other problems, such as:
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Anxiety
- Depression
The cause of Tourette syndrome is unknown. It is more common in boys than girls. The tics usually start in childhood and may be worst in the early teens. Many people eventually outgrow them.
No treatment is needed unless the tics interfere with everyday life. Excitement or worry can make tics worse. Calm, focused activities may make them better. Medicines and talk therapy may also help.
It sits within Brain and Nerves and Genetics/Birth Defects.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Tourette Syndrome
241 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Integrating Exposure and Response Prevention and Habit Reversal Techniques to Treat a Tourettic Subtype of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (Tourettic OCD)University College London Hospitals
- Sertraline vs. Placebo in the Treatment of Anxiety in Children and AdoLescents With NeurodevelopMental DisordersHolland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
- A Study to Evaluate Long-term Safety of Ecopipam Tablets in Children, Adolescents and Adults With Tourette's DisorderEmalex Biosciences Inc.
- Multimodal Profiling of Response to Pediatric Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for TicsUniversity of Minnesota
- Trajectories of Change in Tourette SyndromeUniversity of Minnesota
- Deep Brain Stimulation Therapy in Movement DisordersNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Research already completed
- Epidiolex in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Related DisordersUniversity of Chicago
- Physiological Investigations of Movement DisordersNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
- Median Nerve Stimulation for Tourette Syndrome and Chronic Tic DisorderNottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Ecopipam Tablets to Study Tourette's Disorder in Children, Adolescents and AdultsEmalex Biosciences Inc.
- Cognitive and Brain Development in Adolescents With Gilles de la Tourette SyndromeInstitut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France
- Ecopipam Treatment of Tourette's Syndrome in Subjects 7-17 YearsEmalex Biosciences Inc.
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- About Tourette SyndromeCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Tourette SyndromeNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Diagnosis and Tests
- Diagnosing Tic DisordersCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Newly DiagnosedTourette Association of America
Treatments and Therapies
- Treatment of Tourette SyndromeCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Living With
- 8 Ways to Deal with Ticcing in PublicTourette Association of America
- Exercise, Sports and Tourette SyndromeTourette Association of America
- Print an "I Have TS" CardTourette Association of America
- Tourette Syndrome and BullyingCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Related Issues
- Other Concerns and Conditions of Tourette SyndromeCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Stuttering and Tourette's SyndromeStuttering Foundation of America
Genetics
- Tourette syndrome: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
Statistics and Research
- Data and Statistics on Tourette SyndromeCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Tourette SyndromeNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Tourette Syndrome. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Tourette Syndrome, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.