Health and mortality in people with Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorder

We are particularly happy today to welcome a dear friend of the society, Dr Lorena Fernández de la Cruz.

Dr Lorena Fernández de la Cruz is an Associate Professor at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. She is a clinical psychologist by training, with expertise in the field of obsessive-compulsive disorder and related conditions, such as tic disorders. Her research group uses epidemiological methods to study health outcomes, life expectancy, causes of mortality, and societal outcomes (e.g., educational attainment, labour market participation) in these groups. They also develop and test evidence-based treatments for these conditions.

Summary of the webinar:

The webinar presents the results of a recently published paper studying the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in individuals with Tourette syndrome, using data from the Swedish population-based registers. The study found that individuals with Tourette syndrome, compared with population controls, have an increased risk of death due to both natural and unnatural causes. Natural causes included diseases affecting the nervous, digestive, and respiratory systems. Unnatural causes included suicides and accidents. The increased risk was observed even when comparing individuals with Tourette syndrome to their unaffected siblings, suggesting that the higher mortality rates are not due to shared family factors. As some of these deaths are potentially preventable, greater focus on the somatic health of individuals with TS/CTD is warranted.

Relevant bibliography (the most important articles are highlighted in bold)

1. Fernández de la Cruz, L., Isomura, K.,Kuja-Halkola, R., Lichtenstein, P., Larsson, H., Chang, Z., D’Onofrio, B.M.,Brikell, I., Rück, C., Sidorchuk, A., & Mataix-Cols, D. (2025). All-cause and cause-specific mortality in Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorder. Movement Disorders, 40, 335-344. doi
2. Isomura,K., Sidorchuk. A., Sevilla-Cermeño, L., Åkersedt, T., Silverberg-Mose, M.,Larsson, H., Mataix-Cols, D., & Fernández de la Cruz, L. (2022). Insomnia in Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorder. Movement Disorders, 37, 392-400. doi
3. Mataix-Cols,D., Virtanen, S., Sidorchuk, A., Fernández de la Cruz, L., Larsson, H.,Lichtenstein, P., & Latvala, A. (2022). Association of Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorder with violent assault and criminal convictions. JAMA Neurology, 79, 459-467. doi
4. Isung,J., Isomura, K., Larsson, H., Lichtenstein, P., Sidorchuk, A., Fernández de laCruz, L., & Mataix-Cols, D. (2021). Association of Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorder with cervical spine disorders and related neurological complications. JAMA Neurology, 78, 1205-1211. doi
5. Mataix-Cols,D., Brander, G., Chang, Z., Larsson, H., D’Onofrio, B. M., Lichtenstein, P.,Sidorchuk, A., & Fernández de la Cruz, L. (2021). Serious transport accidents in Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorder. MovementDisorders, 36, 188-195. doi
6. Virtanen,S., Sidorchuk, A., Fernández de la Cruz, L., Brander, G., Lichtenstein, P.,Latvala, A., & Mataix-Cols, D. (2021). Association of Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorder with subsequent risk of alcohol- or drug-related disorders, criminal convictions, and death: a population-based family study. Biological Psychiatry, 89, 407-414. doi
7. Fernández de la Cruz, L. & Mataix-Cols, D. (2020).General health and mortality in Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorder: A mini-review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 119, 514-520. doi
8. Brander,G., Isomura, K., Chang, Z., Kuja-Halkola, R., Almqvist, C., Larsson, H.,Mataix-Cols, D., & Fernández de la Cruz, L. (2019). Association of Tourette syndrome and chronic ticdisorder with metabolic and cardiovascular disorders. JAMA Neurology, 76, 454-461. doi
9. Mataix-Cols,D., Frans, E., Pérez-Vigil, A., Kuja-Halkola, R., Gromark, C., Isomura, K.,Fernández de la Cruz, L., Serlachius, E., Leckman, J. F., Crowley, J. J., Rück,C., Almqvist, C., Lichtenstein, P., & Larsson, H. (2018). A total-population multigenerational family clustering study of autoimmune diseases in obsessive-compulsive disorder andTourette’s/chronic tic disorders. Molecular Psychiatry, 23, 1652-1658. doi
10. Fernández de la Cruz, L., Rydell, M., Runeson, B., Brander, G., Rück, C., D’Onofrio, B.M., Larsson, H., Lichtenstein, P., & Mataix-Cols, D. (2017). Suicide in Tourette’s and chronic tic disorders. Biological Psychiatry, 82, 111-118. doi

Note: all articles are available open access, should you experience any issues when accessing them, feel free to email Lorena directly to request a copy.

Thank you for joining us Lorena and we hope to see you at our next conference!