Best Viewed in Firefox
Taken on Route 66 at POP'S, June 1, 2008
A Little About Me
I have been married for almost 35 years. We have two grown sons, and soon to be 8 grandchildren, there is one on the way...
We have 5 grandsons and 2 granddaughter and we don't know what the new baby is yet...
I drive a concrete mixer truck, and love my job and the guys and girl, I work with, they help me out a lot...
My husband retired from the Marines June 2005, and we spent 24 years on active duty...
After my husband retired, we bought two Harleys and enjoying riding them, I also like to go camping, fishing, boating, almost anything out doors...
I loved to design websites, and sing on singsnap, and I also have myspace account...
...(http://www.myspace.com/patrioticwife)...
Also you might have notice on some of my video's that I blink a lot and make facial movements, this is just to let you know why!
Tourette's Disorder
What is Tourette's disorder (TD)?
Tourette's disorder (TD), sometimes called Tourette's syndrome (TS), is a neurological disorder characterized by multiple repeated tics. Tics are abrupt, purposeless, and involuntary vocal sounds or muscular jerks. Symptoms of TD usually begin between the ages of five and 10 years of age, and usually begin with mild, simple tics involving the face, head, or arms. With time, tics become more frequent and increase in variety, involving more body parts such as the trunk or legs, and often become more disruptive to activities of daily living (ADLs).a,br>
What causes Tourette's disorder?
Tourette's disorder is an autosomal dominant disorder. Autosomal means that both males and females are affected, and dominant means that one copy of the gene is necessary to have the condition. This means that a parent with TD or a parent who has the gene for TD has a 50/50 chance, with each pregnancy, to pass the gene on. TD is associated with a non-genetic cause in 10 percent to 15 percent of children. Complications of pregnancy, low birth weight, head trauma, carbon monoxide poisoning, and encephalitis are thought to be associated with the onset of non-genetic TD.
Dominant disorders exhibit something known as incomplete penetrance, which means that not everyone with the gene will have symptoms of Tourette's disorder. In other words, if a parent passes the gene on to a child, the child may not have any symptoms of the disorder. If a daughter inherits the gene, there is a 70 percent chance that she will have at least one of the signs of TD. On the other hand, if a son inherits the gene, there is a 90 percent chance that he will have at least one of the signs of TD.
Finally, dominant disorders can also exhibit something known as variable expressivity. This means that there are differences in the expression of the TD gene in different people. For example, one person with TD may have obsessive-compulsive disorder, while another has a chronic tic disorder, while another has full-blown TD. In addition, there are differences in expressivity between males and females: males are more likely to have full-blown TD or chronic tics, while females are more likely to have obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Who is affected by Tourette's disorder?
A diagnosis of TD is generally made before the child reaches his/her 18th birthday. In the majority of cases, a child is diagnosed around the age of seven. TD affects more males than females.
What are the symptoms of Tourette's disorder?
Tic behaviors seen in TD change over time, and vary in frequency and complexity. The following are the most common tic behaviors associates with TD. However, each individual experiences symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:
involuntary, purposeless, motor movements (may involve different parts of the body, such as the face, neck, shoulders, trunk, or hands)
head jerking
squinting
blinking
shrugging
grimacing
nose-twitching
any excessively repeated movements (i.e., foot tapping, leg jerking, scratching)
