Iron Levels and Tourette Syndrome Tic Severity
Daniel M. Keller, PhD reported in Medscape Medical News on new research linking iron levels and the severity of tics in Tourette syndrome.
In a poster presentation at the 20th International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders (Berlin; June 2016) Dr. Debabrata Ghosh of Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus suggested an inverse relationship between ferritin levels and tic severity. Further, therapy with iron supplementation moderately helped reduce tic severity. Patients reportedly received 3 to 5 mg’kg/day for 3 to 6 months.
Dr Kelly wrote: “Dr. Ghosh noted that iron is required for nerve myelination and affects the sensitivity of dopamine D2receptors. Iron deficiency has been shown to be etiologic for restless legs syndrome (RLS), with a reduction in severity of the condition upon correction of the deficiency. He therefore reasoned that tics may be hyperkinetic movements similar to RLS, and ‘serum iron may underlie tics in Tourette syndrome,’ he said.
Results are considered preliminary, due in part to small sample size (57).
Other related articles
Low body iron stores have been identified in youngsters receiving risperidone (an antipsychotic used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, behavior difficulties or irritability in autism, and Tourette syndrome) for at least one year. Serum Ferritin, Weight Gain, Disruptive Behavior, and Extrapyramidal Symptoms in Risperidone-Treated Youth
See also 4 studies on iron and ADHD:
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, iron deficiency, and obesity: is there a link?
Iron and ADHD: time to move beyond serum ferritin levels
