gilles-de-la-tourette-:-girls-diagnosed-later-than-boys

Gilles de la Tourette: girls diagnosed later than boys

January 18, 2025

By Camille Gaubert THE Subscribers

Girls/women suffering from Tourette syndrome are diagnosed later than boys/men, a study points out. Different symptoms depending on the gender, biased perception by society and the medical world, confusion due to associated disorders, there is no shortage of hypotheses.

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome affects approximately 0.5% of the population, according to the Institut du Cerveau (ICM).

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome affects approximately 0.5% of the population, according to the Institut du Cerveau (ICM).

Antoine Boureau / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP

Women with Tourette syndrome are diagnosed later than men, according to a US study published in the journal Neurology. And while previous data suggest precisely the opposite, this study finds a lower symptom severity score in women than men.

Motor and verbal tics, Gilles de la Tourette syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disease for which there is no treatment other than cognitive and behavioral therapies (CBT) or brain implants in exceptional and very severe cases. The disease mainly affects boys and is often associated with neuropsychiatric disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), obsessive compulsive disorders (OCDs) or learning disorders (dyslexia, dyspraxia, etc.). It generally appears in childhood, between the ages of 6 and 8, and can spontaneously regress as the child grows up.

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