HOUSTON – (Dec. 17, 2004) – The cosmetic cure-all Botox may have
found another market: sufferers of Tourette's syndrome.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston are using
botulinum toxin type A (Botox) to treat the neurological disorder,
which can cause involuntary motor and vocal tics. Dr. Joseph
Jankovic, professor of neurology and director of the Parkinson's
Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic at BCM, was the lead
author of a recent article in Clinical Neuropharmacology, which
showed that Botox can suppress tics in disorders like Tourette's.

"While we have an enormous amount of data showing that Botox is an
extremely safe and effective treatment for a variety of therapeutic
and cosmetic uses, the important thing for patients is whether this
translates into meaningful improvements in their daily lives,"
Jankovic said. "Our review makes clear that treatment with Botox
accomplishes this across a wide range of chronic and debilitating
disorders and conditions."

Although public awareness about Tourette's has generally improved
since medieval times – when it was thought to be demonic possession –
the disorder remains largely elusive to researchers and greatly
misunderstood by the masses.

"We still don't know exactly what causes Tourette's syndrome, but we
do know that it is a genetic disorder," Jankovic said.

Unlike most genetic disorders, Tourette's is caused by bilineal
transmission, a rare event in which both parents contribute defective
genes to their child. Nevertheless, Tourette's syndrome remains
relatively prevalent: roughly three percent of the population carries
some form of the disorder, according to Jankovic.

"We have made tremendous progress with treatments, and even though we
don't know the cause of the disease, we are able to significantly
improve the quality of life for patients with Tourette's syndrome by
a variety of medications," he said.

A common misperception of Tourette's is that coprolalia, the
involuntary utterance of obscenities, is the predominant symptom,
when actually less than half of all patients exhibit it. Furthermore,
most people with Tourette's develop other behavioral problems such as
attention deficit disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.

In addition to Botox, medications like fluphenazine, pimozide and
risperidol, which block dopamine receptors, suppress involuntary
movements. Jankovic is also conducting studies with other drugs
including tetrabenazine, an investigational drug that depletes
dopamine, and topiramate, an anti-epileptic drug. Finally, new
surgical procedures developed at BCM and The Methodist Hospital hold
promise for curbing uncontrollable tics and other neurological
problems associated with Tourette's.

"Tourette's clearly deserves more attention than it has been paid by
either the scientific community or the funding agencies," Jankovic
said. "For every patient we diagnose in our clinic, there are
probably dozens who suffer the consequences of Tourette's syndrome
without knowing that they have it."

As part of an initiative to spread public awareness and dispel false
notions about the disorder, a biannual conference organized by
Jankovic and other BCM physicians targets both medical professionals
and lay audiences.

The "Tourette Syndrome and Related Neurobehavioral Disorders
Conference" will be held Jan. 14 at the InterContinental Hotel in
Houston and features internationally recognized speakers. The
conference will focus not only on tics but other problems associated
with Tourette's syndrome, including attention deficit disorder,
obsessive compulsive disorder, loss of impulse control, and other
behavioral co-morbidities. For further information about the
conference, contact Baylor Office of Continuing Medical Education at
713-798-8237.

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