theory model vs the psychological/sociological model.
Could an Infection Cause Tourette's-Like Symptoms in Teenage Girls?
The sudden onset of a tic disorder in 15 upstate New York teens might
be the result of a strep or other microbial contagion, not "conversion
disorder"
By Karen Schrock | Scientific American | February 2, 2012 | 10
Over the weekend Erin Brockovich made the news yet again as she and
her nonprofit team descended on the village of Le Roy, N.Y.,
determined to test for environmental toxins that might be giving the
town's teenagers symptoms of Tourette's syndrome. She has reportedly
been stonewalled thus far by local officials, who have already ruled
out toxins as the cause of last October's sudden outbreak of tics and
involuntary movements in 12 girls who attend Le Roy Junior=96Senior High
School. An environmental testing company surveyed the air and water
and found nothing amiss, and a local neurologist concluded upon
examining the girls that they had "conversion disorder," a catchall
moniker for physical symptoms that originate in the mind because of
stress, trauma or even mass hysteria.
But many of the affected kids, their parents, concerned locals and
outside experts are unhappy with that diagnosis, especially as the
number of teens with symptoms has risen to 15 in recent weeks. Some
experts think the doctors should revisit the idea that the teenagers
might have PANS=97pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome.
PANS is a new name for an old idea: that infections by bacteria,
viruses or parasites can cause the sudden onset of neuropsychiatric
ailments such as Tourette's and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
(Tic disorders like Tourette's are closely related to OCD, sharing
many symptoms and often coexisting in patients.) PANS is more commonly
known by its former name, PANDAS=97pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric
disorder associated with streptococcal infection=97because the first
known cases were in kids who had strep throat and then suddenly
developed OCD. But researchers have realized in recent years that a
variety of infectious agents=97not just strep=97can cause mental illness.
New Jersey=96based doctor Rosario Trifiletti, who specializes in PANS,
visited Le Roy, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Rochester,
last weekend to take blood and tissue samples from some of the
afflicted girls, so he can test for such an infection. The results of
those tests will be ready in a couple weeks. In the meantime, OCD
expert Michael Jenike, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical
School, explains what PANS is and why it might account for the
mysterious illness in Le Roy...
...How can an infection cause a mental illness?
It's an autoimmune issue. Mady Hornig at Columbia University has a
mouse model that shows how it works. They give strep to mice, then
give them another agent that breaks down the blood=96brain barrier, and
that induces a neuropsychiatric syndrome: the mice have trouble
running mazes, and so on. Then they purify the antibodies from those
mice, inject them in another mouse that never had strep, and that
mouse gets the neuropsychiatric symptoms, too. That shows it's the
antibodies doing the damage....
The full story can be found here:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=3Dcould-infection-cause-to=
urettes-like-symptoms-teenage-girls
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