Contents
Dawid Woskanian, winner of the eighth edition of “Top Model”, made the jurors cry during the casting. All because of his illness, which he has been struggling with since childhood. What is Tourette’s syndrome?
Dawid Woskanian – participant of the “Top Model” with Tourette’s syndrome
Dawid is a 20-year-old from Bielsko-Biała, and currently lives in the village of Kozy (Silesian Voivodeship). The program participant suffers from Tourette’s syndrome – a congenital, incurable neurological disorder, manifested primarily by the presence of vocal and motor tics. David’s symptoms appeared when he was seven years old. It started with blinking my eyes.
Due to the disease, the man experienced a lot of unpleasantness from his peers, but not only. Adults can also show incomprehension towards him. The participant cited the story of an elderly woman who, observing the symptoms of the disease, called David a freak. However, the man does not allow the disorder to interfere with his normal functioning. In addition to street training, which is his passion, he also decided to pursue modeling. The dream led him to the casting for the “Top Model” program. Uncertain whether the upset Dawid could handle the role of a model, the jurors asked him to pose for a few photos. When they saw how professionally he behaves in front of the lens and fights tics, the jurors cried with emotion. Ultimately, thanks to hard work and commitment, Dawid Woskanian won the eighth edition of the Top Model.
Also read: Seven genetic diseases that mainly affect … men!
What is Tourette’s syndrome?
Zespół Gillesa de la Tourette’a is also called tic disease. This term refers to the most characteristic symptom of the disease. Tourette’s syndrome affects 5 out of 10 people, more men than women. The first symptoms may show up in early childhood or in adolescence (most often between the ages of 000 and 2). The patient develops tics – involuntary movements, grunting, blinking eyelids or repeating words that are not always censored. Although sometimes the patient can stop the tic, it comes back with increased force after a while.
Exact causes of Tourette’s syndrome are not known. It is known, however, that the disease is more common in families diagnosed with movement disorders, hyperactivity disorders or compulsive-obsessive disorders.
Also read: AHC – one of the rarest genetic diseases in the world
Symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome
Facial tics, such as frequent blinking, are most common in the early stages of the disease. Over time, involuntary movements of the hands and neck become noticeable, and the patient begins to make sounds such as grunting and munching. Sound tics, or vocalizations, also consist in repeating words or sentences (perseveration), overheard words (echolalia), curses (coprolalia) or imitating sounds. They appear in severe form complex ticssuch as jumping up, touching yourself and others, saying meaningless words. Symptoms vary in intensity in patients.
Tics build up in stressful situations or after exercise. They are more frequent in the evening and at high temperatures. Additionally, in patients with Tourette’s syndrome, psychomotor hyperactivity, sleep disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders, attention deficits and emotional disorders are observed.
Symptoms are most severe among school-age children, and they tend to get milder with time. In adults, tics may subside, although it is estimated that half of those affected develop lifelong tics. Periodic remissions of symptoms, i.e. their silencing, are also observed in patients.
Treatment of Tourette’s syndrome
The disease is incurable. Treatment of patients experiencing less severe symptoms focuses on educating patients and their families to improve daily functioning. In the case of symptoms of greater intensity, the following are used, inter alia, psychotherapy to change the patient’s behavior into socially acceptable forms. Pharmacology is used for tics that interfere with daily functioning. Neuroleptics or calcium channel blockers can be used to relieve the symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome.