News Article: “The pain of Tourette's: 'I'm always covered in bruises' “
BBC News Original article: www.bbc.com/news/health-46905085
Written by Anna & Claire Chen 8 July 2020
SUMMARY OF NEWS ARTICLE
The article lends insight to Tourette's syndrome and shares personal experiences by people living with Tourette’s. As defined by the NHS, Tourette’s syndrome is a condition that causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics. The exact cause of Tourette’s is still unknown. While it is thought that genetics may predispose individuals to the development of tics, the role of environmental factors is still being investigated.
It is a wrongful misconception to assume that the tics experienced by individuals with Tourette’s syndrome are only swearing or saying socially inappropriate things. The article shares that this symptom in fact only affects around 10% of individuals with the syndrome.
What is less commonly known about the condition, is the pain and discomfort people with Tourette’s experience on the daily as a result of tics. Research carried out by the charity, Tourettes Action, found that tics causing pain or physical damage were present in 86% of the respondents surveyed, with 21% sharing that they had been hospitalised or needed urgent medical care after being injured by violet tics.
Some physical problems experienced include whiplash and nosebleeds from head-shaking while some long-term damage resulted from tics include stress fractures, torn ligaments.
The article shares that the tics cause chronic pain on a daily basis to the people living with the condition, with repetitive tics causing a number of problems in their day-to-day living.
It is important to note that what differentiates Tourette’s from other movement disorders is the fact that there appears to be lesser ability to help people with Tourette’s manage their pain.
Further, there is often a long delay between the point from which symptoms are first noticed and when the diagnosis of the syndrome is given, with the average wait for diagnosis being 1-2 years. In some cases, some have waited up till 6 years.
The NHS long-term plan aims to improve choice and personalised care for people with long term conditions, as well as to support local areas to tackle unwarranted variation in quality of services.
Why should you start reading articles like this
Whether you’re a little unsure about your passion towards medicine, or simply preparing for an interview, reading news articles always help.
TIP: Admission tutors love to know about your insight towards these non-textbook matters! By consistently reading Medicine related articles, you’ll be able to familiarise yourself with a few key news articles which will allow you to seamlessly discuss them in your interviews.
For instance, if you’re given the question “What would you do with an increased NHS budget?”, you could talk about increasing funding on tourettes research. Not only will this make you stand out from other applicants who will likely talk about the ‘common hot topics’ cancer and diabetes, it will also show the admission tutors that you are spending a lot of your free time to find out more about Medicine.
DISCLAIMER: Don’t simply try to find ‘obscure’ news articles in an effort to differentiate yourself from the rest of the applicants. Admission tutors simply want to see you curious about matters beyond your textbook.
Moreover, news articles may be helpful to you if you’re struggling to find something intriguing to talk about in your personal statement. Not everything in your personal statement has to be regarding your work experience, especially given the difficulty in finding some this year! Readings are therefore an appropriate topic to bring up. TIP: Talk about the insight you gained from reading an article and not simply the facts or content of the article. For example, how it inspired you to become a doctor or perhaps about how it corrected a misconception you had. However, it is important to know that, ultimately, the insight you gain is unique to you and requires some extent of reflection. Don’t try to use the key phrases or ‘hot’ terms that you believe admission tutors want. Having a voice with individuality is important.
With regards to finding an appropriate source of news articles, we recommend BBC news! Not only are there a variety of Medicine related articles on the forum, you will also be able to find articles relating to the NHS which will be useful knowledge for you to acquire.