Tourette Syndrome and Human Behavior

Rating:
Summary: A readable guide for professional and parent on Tourettes
Review: Don't let the thickness scare you. And don't think that Tourette's is just the "cussin' disease." Dr. Comings has written a very readable yet comprehensive work on Tourette's Syndrome including a host of related "spectrum disorders" such as ADHD, ODD, OCD, and Conduct Disorder, etc. His background as a geneticist and treating physician give the reader both an understanding of the genetics and heritability of these disorders and comprehensive treatment guidelines regarding medications and therapy for them. I have been able to solve a variety of "mysteries" presenting in my practice that have responded well to Dr. Comings' RX recommendations. Dr. Comings` book has been so useful in my psychology practice (private ADHD Clinic) that I have ordered copies for all my physician referral sources. Parents will find some info rather technical but Dr. Comings give you permission to skip chapters. His case studies and TS "pedigrees" will certainly hit home with many parents who have struggled with the troublesome but often subtle symptoms of the spectrum disorders. Highly Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Comprehensive Book
Review: I am the webmaster of Mental Health Sanctuary and I highly recommend this book. Do not be afraid of the size of this book as it is 687 pages, not including the various tests which will assist you and the glossary and index.

This book leaves nothing out. It answers *every* question imaginable. Easy to read and understand and yet thorough in it's approach. If you want to fully understand tourette syndrome, it's diagnosis, treatment, the genetics, behavior, cause, and much more, this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: A revolutionary and insightful book
Review: I have suffered from Tourette's since around age 5. I'll spare you the clinical and genetical reasoning and studies he uses to make his point, I am not a doctor, but I do have Tourette's.

I suffered from childhood tics, and a myriad of apparently associated behavioral problems, all brought to light in this study.

This book was an eye-opener, I identified with so many things others with TS he had studied suffered from, I felt like I was reading a self-study autobiography.

I was sick of hearing about just tics, those come and go in a lot of TS patients, I could handle those, they got better as I got older. The ones I had were very obvious; head-jerking, repetitive/constant throat clearing, blinking, throat noises, and host of other strange impulses I had a hard time controlling until I was older. I was teased, ridiculed, poked, studied and then forgotten when the obvious tics went away.

Unfortunately the tics were the least of my problems, many of the associated ADD, OCD, addiction problems and behavioral disorders fit me to a tee, that Comings covered. The genetic trail he discovered seemed very reasonable and the act of my conception alone could've been a result of impulsive behavior associated with a form of Tourette's. The implications of modern human behavioral problems are almost over-whelming, astounding, and to an extent, throw-away a lot of preconceived notions we all have today about kids with TS, ADD, hyperactivity, addiction problems, minor criminal activity in middle class families, that otherwise have no explanation.

For anyone wanting to know more about Tourette's, or who may have it in their family, this is the first book I would recommend. You simply cannot argue with some of the relative behaviors and passed-down traits and patterns of behavior in families, it is impossible to ignore.

I lived it, and I don't really need someone to tell me otherwise, my impulses were not something born out of purely external, environmental conditions, I know that much.

Comings is on to something here and it deserves praise and serious attention from the medical community.

Even if you don't agree with his findings, the book itself and the case studies are very interesting and are something government, law and social officials/employees need to have a better understanding of.

Rating:
Summary: Finally! Not Just Tics!
Review: I, too, have TS. This book was remarkably eye-opening. I especially found helpfull the chapters on the good aspects of TS and TS personality characteristics.

I'll cut to the chase and give some inside insight. Chances are, as a Tourettic myself, that if one of us is involved in 'delinquent' behavior, it's probably due to our tendency to have a higher intelligence combined with a disgust for hypocracy in the 'system', so it's probably done just to show how the system has a huge hole in it. (However, I never fell in that category because I figured I'd get caught, so just kept my distaste with what I perceived as hypocracy - something else we tend not to stand for - to myself.)

It's an excellent book for reaching beyond tics, to understanding why I speak so candidly, to hints at what is the best way for me to learn, all the way to having the tenacity of a bulldog. I thought these personality characteristics in me were just individual flukes! Then I read about brother and sister Tourettics who share the same. I read the opening case stories and couldn't beleive it. "That's me!" I exclaimed.

Now, if only the medical community will catch up...

Rating:
Summary: Another point of view.
Review: In the tradition of the 19th century classification debate surrounding Tourette's Syndrome (TS), history is repeating itself in the controversy surrounding the unorthodox genetic theories of Dr. David Comings. Drawing from his years of treating patients, Comings has come to theorize that TS is more than a tic disorder. Much like his predecessor Guinon, Comings also asserts that his colleagues have too narrowly defined their disorder. Comings' genetic studies have led him to conclude that TS is a polygenic disorder, caused by the convergence from both parents of several genes which affect the levels of dopamine, serotonin and other brain chemicals. Because Comings believes that TS is genetic, he speculates that a gene, which is semi-dominant and semi-recessive, is involved in TS. Moreover, he has defined TS as a spectrum disorder, which includes a host of other behavioral disorders such as alcoholism, drug abuse and compulsive eating disorders. He feels that by defining TS as an autosomal dominant condition, his colleagues' efforts are doomed to fail. This theory has dramatic implications regarding the causes of certain behaviors that mental health professionals have traditionally attributed to psychological problems, poor parenting or learning behaviors. Comings represents the most thorough and persistent view of the genetic component of TS. In this light, Comings' views are worth understanding and must be taken seriously. However, he is not without opposition and his findings have undergone extreme scrutiny and criticism. Ranging from the absurd to the technical, Comings has been accused of conjuring up the ghosts of Eugenics to merely being guilty of an ascertainment error. His perspective and the objections of his detractors are the subject of this work. In the end, whether Comings is ultimately vindicated is moot. What is important is, as we inch closer to a full explanation of the etiology of TS, a possible explanation has not been ignored by the reductionist tendency of specialization.

Miguel Llora

Rating:
Summary: This is the "one" book to have if your child has Tourettes!
Review: This book answered so many questions for me about tourettes Syndrome and many questions I had yet to even conjure. The information is presented so that even the non medical person can read with ease. Despite the size I never put the book down once I started reading. The information gave me the information to confirm my suspicions that my son had Tourettes Syndrome and the knowledge and understanding of how to present that information to my childs physician and get a diagnosis. I read the book a few years ago but now as I am propelled to seek a degree in psychology from the information I learned about Tourettes Syndrome frequently I refer to "Tourettes Syndrome and Human Behavior" when I speak publicly on the subject and have referred the book to physicians, psychologist, educators and parents.

Noreene M. Bailey parent of a child with tourettes psychology student at SFCC

Rating:
Summary: [e-mail] - Review
Review: This book is a great book for the patient diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at the secondary and tertiary level of the disorder; or a person in a personal relationship with the same patient. They will understand and relate much more throughout the pages without a "Scare Factor". There are possible more sever co-morbid conditions the Dr. amplifies in the secondary and tertiary diagnosis which are not so prevalent in a first level diagnosis if at all.

I doc the book only 1 star solely for the purpose of some statistical analysis concerns which for the most part are of little value to most patients. It's a M.D. and Ph.D neurological posturing and arguing point for clinicians, researchers among many other peer review arguments. Nonetheless, the adjustment is warranted.

One of the wonderful qualities of the book is the ease of language character for the lay reader in respect of the volume size and medical matter. It is not hard to understand the theories, line of reasoning, and detail Dr. Comings presents.

True; the Dr.'s work is vastly based on those who seek treatment for the disorder, as would be expected because of his practice and leadership at the City of Hope. This is a plus however for those who seek treatment because it focuses on that range of patients. For that margin of patients it is illuminating and liberating to have a name and understanding by medical clinicians of what Tourettes has meant to them on their level.

For a mild case of Tourettes, this may only be a book you can discover information about others who suffer from the disorder more than you. Don't let it scare you however. Even if your case is mild, the pedigree education, charts, tables, neurology, survey and more, can help you understand a riddle.

"Having Tourettes is kind of like a riddle. Tourette Syndrome can be tough to understand and solve, however like a riddle, Tourette Syndrome can be quite easy to accept once you understand it." - Paul Marshall - Editor Tourettes-Disorder.com


Rating:
Summary: Dated and too inclusive
Review: This book was written in 1990, and there have been great strides in research since then. Comings lumps too many other diagnoses into a description of Tourette Syndrome, which is confusing and can be catastrophic when you are trying to get the right treatment for an individual. Yes, SOME people with Tourette's have the other complications that Comings describes- but NOT ALL. It is fine to be treated for ADHD, OCD, TS, and other conditions if that is what you or your child has, but if you don't have ADHD, OCD, and other conditions, you deserve to be treated only for what you do have.

The book is also slanted because it is based upon research that represents those who seek treatment for TS, not the general population with TS. Most people who seek treatment for TS have more complicated problems than just tics. Research since this book was published is more inclusive of the wider population.

For the best and most up to date information, stick with the Leckman/Cohen book. Or read Amy Wilensky's book. Stay away from Comings. So much has changed in 13 years of research into TS and the human genome.

Rating:
Summary: Finally! Not Just Tics!
Review: This is book offers a wonderful and complete explanation of the origins and progress of this fascinating neurological disorder. Dr. Comings is most definitely NOT just a doctor who came up with a few speculative theories, as another reviewer implied. He is one of our country's premiere medical geneticists studying -- and teaching -- the etiology of psychiatric/neurological disorders in adults and children. He still consults on difficult cases out of the City of Hope in California.

Before this brilliant man studied this disorder, Tourette's was frequently assumed to be the product of bad parenting (at best), the result of poor moral behavior, or demonic posession requiring exorcism (at worst). Now Tourette's, and its symptoms, are widely recognized by medical professionals to be an inherited disorder of neurotransmitter metabolism -- but it was not so until Dr. Comings published his well-documented findings based on superbly performed studies (that have been widely published in extremely reputable peer-reviewed journals).

In this book, Dr. Comings documents not only his findings, but his journey as he learned more about this disorder and its related problems, which include obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit-disorder, and a host of other issues. He is a physician writing about the technical aspects of medical genetics, and symptamatology, but he still has created a volume that makes fascinating reading for scholar and layman alike.

Rating:
Summary: Caution, a terrifying book for those new to the syndrome
Review: This unfortunately was the first book I read on the subject of Tourette Syndrome. My child was then 4 years old and newly diagnosed with the condition, and an absolute angel, sweetheart, mild-mannered, sociable pre-schooler with tics. I needed therapy after reading this book for fear of all the horrible things that might become reality for my child, not to mention I felt so low about my family members from a genetic pool standpoint, I wondered if I'd ever be able to lift my head proudly again.

Fortunately many years have passed and much of what was indicated that very well could become my child's reality in living with Tourette Syndrome, (in terms of difficulties with the condition and socialization), never did. A second child within my family was later dx'd with the same syndrome and happily for us, things are going much better than this book would have ever lead me to believe.

I encourage those who are new to this condition to start reading somewhere else before tackling this book, and when and if you decide to read this one, make sure you have a support group lined up for the after math. In my opinion, this book may very well cause more grief than the condition, if for no other reason than for the fear mongering of what may never come to pass.

Fortunately, much research has been done in recent years on the condition, and I feel that the picture of living with Tourette Synderome is much brighter than my earlier days when I had nothing other than this book to benchmark the condition by.