Comments on: What's Causing the Bizarre Plague of Tics in Upstate New York?

By: Tony Mach

Tony Mach — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:10:18 +0000

Two kids in Genesee county (Michigan) have developed similiar symptoms. They say they were in LeRoy in summer.

My money would be on pathogen.

And asking Dr. House? Doesn’t he only diagnose what is known? OK, granted, sometimes he diagnoses things that aren’t firmly established yet – but still. (And apart from that: Isn’t he a fictional character?) So why not ask a real virus hunter instead, that he takes a look, and sees if there is an pathogen we might not know about? Someone like Dr. Lipkin? He could refute or confirm a possible pathogen connection.

By: bella

bella — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:57:45 +0000

I think they are totally faking it. All girls within the same age group, going to the same school? All the attention? Like it was suggested, Magallen’s Disease. Totally psychosomatic. I saw them on TV. It is mass hysteria. I hate that word too. They all looked alike . I just don’t buy it. That girl that kept making the sign of the cross was just too much.

By: TRP

TRP — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:38:41 +0000

I’ve seen the “tics” exhibited by some of these girls on TV and they do not look like the bona fide tics that Tourette’s patients show. Basically, they jerk around but lack the exaggerated movement, loss of control that Tourette’s patients have.

By: Kate Hammer

Kate Hammer — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:58:22 +0000

According to what I have read, with the two exceptions noted above (1 boy and 1-36 year old woman,) all affected have been girls. Has anyone looked into certain products that may have been used by this sampling of individuals ? (I.e. Tampons, birth control pills, other medication, flu shots, etc.). It would seem it could potentially be a ‘batch’ of something (some product or food?) that may have caused the impact (something that would serve as a common denominator among this group of people). Possibly a combination of something ? Has there been a thorough investigation with respect to foods eaten, and/or mess taken and where the supply may have come from ? I would think There must be some common denominator between this group of people.

By: Übersetzung

Übersetzung — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:22:23 +0000

I get tics when I have poor sleep. In my case, it isn’t clear which comes first–the tics or the poor sleep. But still they should have checked.

By: JCHarris

JCHarris — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:40:01 +0000

@Jean Gogolin: I think (my memory could be wrong) that the Salem incident has been put down to having started with ergot poisoning combined with psychological stresses? I.e., The first girls started acting weird from the fungus in their wheat, it was attributed to witchcraft, then it spread to other girls as “mass hysteria.”

Again, I could be way off on that sequence of events, and am probably way simplifying it (esp. since I’ve got that too-lazy-to-go-search thing going on).

@John Lerch: Weird! I get tics (hands, arms, legs jerk; also “brain zaps”) when I’m overtired, too. And they do look like the girls’ physical symptoms to some extent.

By: Jean Gogolin

Jean Gogolin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:55:50 +0000

Does anyone else wonder whether whatever is causing this phenomenon also caused the hysteria (a word I hate, since its root is the same as that for the uterus) that led to the Salem, Massachusetts witchcraft trials of 1692?

Thank God the result this time will not be the same.

By: Michelle M

Michelle M — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:29:11 +0000

Mass hysteria.

By: lymie

lymie — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:22:00 +0000

I agree! Where’s DR. House when we need him! Not even joking! I’m wondering if they’ve been tested for lymes disease? (not the government “approved” testing either it’s fallible and returns more false negatives than I’d like to mention! What’s even worse is these girls may not have even had a tick bite to contract but their mothers could have lyme disease! Just a thought ya’ll
Conversion order my @ss!

By: Stephen O'Connor

Stephen O'Connor — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:00:48 +0000

Where’s Dr House when you need him?!