title: [Diagnosis and treatment of tics].
abstract: Tics are repetitive and sudden purposeless movements. Phenomenologically tics are differentiated as simple or complex, motor or vocal. Transient forms, which last less than 1 year, occur frequently in child hood. For Tourette syndrome, multiple simple and complex motor and vocal tics are present for more than one year. Frequently, additional symptoms of an obsessive-compulsive disorder or an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are present. There is no therapy for the cause of tics. For minor symptoms or if a transient tic disorder is suspected, the use of medications should be avoided. Instead the patient and if necessary, the parents should be informed in detail and given advice. Particularly for children, it is important to exclude antiepileptic drugs as the cause of tics. For chronic tics and for pronounced symptoms, drug therapy with neuroleptic drugs or clonidine is a possibility. However, the efficacy of these substances is limited.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Neurologie, Klinische Neurophysiologie und Stroke Unit, Klinikum München-Bogenhausen. topka@extern.lrz-muenchen.de
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Topka
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003000:Clonidine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012737:Sex Factors; D013565:Sympatholytics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020323:Tics / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D013997:Time Factors; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D013565:Sympatholytics; D003000:Clonidine