Recruiting Participants for Study on the Benefits of Exercise on Childhood Tourette syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Symptoms

A doctoral candidate in psychology sent me her institutional review board approval for this study and asked me to post the recruitment notice:

Participants sought for a study exploring the possible benefits of aerobic exercise on children and adolescents with Tourette syndrome (TS) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The study has received Institutional Review Board approval from Hofstra University, New York.

Children and adolescents ages 8-16 diagnosed with both TS and OCD are eligible to participate in a 6-week, 12-session aerobic exercise program. All sessions will be conducted in the participants’ home for ease and convenience.

Each exercise session will take approximately 30 minutes. Two-three 15-minute interviews will be conducted prior to beginning the exercise intervention, and one interview will be conducted one month after the end of the exercise intervention. Participants who complete the study and follow-up will receive $250.

Participants can be on medication, but cannot be undergoing medication changes during the study.

Study Location: Long Island, New York

For additional information or to sign up, contact Loren Packer-Hopke, M.S. via telephone: 516-359-0859 or e-mail: lpackerhopke@yahoo.com

And yes, in the interests of full disclosure: the doctoral candidate is related to me, but the study is her own and has been approved by her university.

Bizarre outbreak of Tourette syndrome-like symptoms baffles school district

An upstate New York school district has a medical mystery on their hands: at least six students suddenly erupted in Tourette-like tics and the district doesn’t know why or what has caused it.

Geoff Redick reports:

Officials in the LeRoy School District are still uncertain what exactly is causing a number of students to display sudden symptoms, similar to Tourette’s Syndrome.

Superintendent Kimberly Cox tells WBTA News today that medical personnel continue to investigate the case, in which several students are apparently displaying “tics” – twitches or vocal exclamations that the sufferer cannot control.

The “tics” are commonly associated with Tourette’s syndrome, though a neurologist tells WBTA News there many be many other causes for them.

[...]

In a statement on the LeRoy website today, Cox says no apparent connection has been found between the students.

Other coverage can be found on MPN and WKBW.

Curiouser and curiouser. The neurologist is quite right that there are a number of possible explanations, and I would be that they are all being pursued right now.