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Tourette’s Syndrome: understand BBB’s Cara de Sapato disease 23

Reality shows like Big Brother Brasil 23 end up giving more evidence to new discussions that until then had not been so prominent. This time, the theme is Tourette Syndrome.

In a conversation in the kitchen at BBB 23, fighter Antonio Carlos, Cara de Sapato, opened up to his brothers about how he was diagnosed with the syndrome at age 7, when he started having the first symptoms and his parents took him to the doctor.

Symptoms

Tourette’s Syndrome is a disorder of the nervous system characterized by involuntary motor and vocal movements, explains Livia Castelo Branco, a psychiatrist at Holiste Psiquiatria.

“These are quick, recurrent movements, and they are not rhythmic. They can be in the hands, in the eyes, etc., and the tics can also be from vocalization”.

In the case of vocalization spasms, the psychiatrist says they can be syllables, sometimes grunts, and even more complex spasms.

“These are more elaborate movements, but with unrelated muscles. For example, the eye and the arm”, explained the expert.

Another case is called coprolalia, in which the patient swears like a tic.

Castelo Branco also explains that people with the syndrome feel a great urgency to have the spasms. and are relieved afterwards:

“It is not completely involuntary, but there is a certain difficulty in controlling these movements and vocalizations”, he says.

Tics are worse when the person is very excited, anxious, or tired. In calmer activities, it is possible to focus and relieve a little.

The diagnosis

The psychiatrist says that the symptoms begin before the age of 18, still in childhood or adolescence, and are not caused by any disease, such as Huntington’s, or by the use of some type of substance.

It is common for Tourette Syndrome to be accompanied by other anxiety disorders, such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

“It is important that the diagnosis be made as early as possible so that we can reduce the symptoms and improve the patient’s quality of life”, explains the psychiatrist.

Treatment includes psychological follow-up in the behavioral therapy approach and medications in some cases.

The life of someone with Tourette Syndrome

According to the psychiatrist, the syndrome impacts the person’s life due to the social discomfort caused by spasms and involuntary movements.

“People laugh, tics can cause difficulty in concentration, reduced performance in some activities, such as avoiding presentations at school, at work, job interviews, etc.”, explained the doctor.

In the case of Cara de Sapato, who is confined to a reality show seen by millions of people, she says that there is not much harm because he is already an adult. “Usually the symptoms tend to subside at this age,” she explains.

“Being on a reality show does not necessarily interfere, but it can increase the risk of you having more tics because you are more exposed”, he says.

According to the professional, tension, anxiety and stress tend to increase the symptoms of the syndrome.

Source: CNN Brasil

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