Recent Advances in Tourettes syndrome research – hope for 12 LeRoy girls?

A recent review in 2006 of current research knowledge on Tourette’s syndrome, in the Journal Trends in Neuroscience by Dr Albin and Dr Mink from University of Michigan and University of Rochester, respectively.

Salient features: It emphasizes that Tourettes is in more boys than girls (which makes it more significant and scientifically puzzling that it was 12 girls in LeRoy high school who have developed Tourettes like syndrome and around the same time after September 2011);
Basal ganglia models have made it easier to study this disease;
Genes have been found to be associated but none have been found in all Tourettes patients;
Treatment research is may hone in on D1 receptor antagonists.

Contact the authors and encourage them and let them know that you care about their work and their knowledge. They will truly appreciate it. You may support their work by fund raising for them. You may inspire them by inviting them to give talks on current status of world wide Tourettes research.

Rochester is not too far from LeRoy high school. It would be wise to have a scientific presentation in LeRoy by the author of this paper, who is based in Rochester.

Corresponding author is Jonathan Mink and his contact information:
Corresponding author: Mink, J.W. (jonathan_mink@urmc.rochester.edu).

Addresses of both authors, if you prefer to shower them with snail mail and one dollar bills:

Roger L. Albin1 and Jonathan W. Mink2
1
Geriatrics Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Ann Arbor VAMC, Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, MI 48109,
USA
2
Departments of Neurology, Ne\urobiology & Anatomy, and Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry,
601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 631, Rochester, NY 14642, USA

12 LeRoy, NY high school girls with sudden, similar symptoms -Tackling the issue with scientific methodology

When twelve LeRoy high school students, all teenage girls aged around 17 years, suddenly presented with similar symptoms after September 2011, the medical community was baffled. It was a real diagnosis of an illness, and yet, did not appear to follow any of Koch’s rules of a cause or infection.

The girls are obviously still sick three months later and they are distraught, missing out on the best, albeit reasonably stressful, year of school life. Their parents simply want them cured.

The school community was concerned enough to call in the responsible authorities. The parents were informed the school is safe to attend. All was back to normal, except for the fact that the twelve girls are still sick and being told that “it is all in their heads”, “mass hysteria”, “get over it” and others have simply not taken them seriously. One Amherst Psychiatrist has labeled it the “consumption disease” or mass hysteria. A 2013 TV documentary follows the story of these school girls and one boy with similar symptoms:
The Town That Caught Tourettes? (10 PM, TLC):

How do you “catch” Tourettes? I guess we’ll find out:

In the fall of 2011, in a small town in upstate New York, a group of teenage girls from the same high school mysteriously developed symptoms resembling Tourette’s. This documentary follows the lives of the girls at the heart of the baffling outbreak.

It is time to take these girls seriously. Tomorrow, this could happen to another cluster of children or adults and we would still have no scientific system to deal with the results. A country that can send a man to walk on the moon can surely figure out what will trigger such a cluster phenomenon.

Consider the following and get your voice head to get answers now:
1) Tics, and sudden involuntary movements as seen in these girls is usually found in 4:1 ratio in boys, and not girls; why girls and why 12 girls here? Did the hormone estrogen play a role?
2) We know all the 12 girls did not know each other as friends. Did they share a common home product? A new tampon which can give toxic shock syndrome leading to an infection trigger.
3) The group of triggers – it is time to demand mass large scale studies of a group of triggers. It is scientifically not allowed to study a group of triggers in relationship to each other. Only single triggers can be studied, one at a time. In the case of these girls, all known plausible single triggers have been ruled out. Hence, the next obvious step is to study a group of triggers in various combinations. Any maths student can figure out the various combinations to study for Tourettes. For eg:
a: Gardasil and toxic shock syndrome
b: Gardasil and strep throat infection
c: Gardasil and >>>>>
d: A household cleaner and >>>>
e: A soccer field pesticide and an energy drink and >>>>
The community should become more aggressive and demand thorough research. No doctor should be allowed to dismiss a real disease calling it “consumption”. Rise and fight for the health and safety of your communities. You have it inside you. Find your voice.