OCD patients have recurrent, unwanted thoughts such as anxiety about contamination or being hurt and have uncontrolled repetitive rituals including hand washing, cleaning, checking or counting. The rituals provide only temporary relief. Often chronic and relapsing, OCD typically begins in early childhood or adolescence. OCD annually occurs in about 3.9 million people in the United States, about 2 percent of the population, according to the NIMH, part of the U.S. federal government's National Institutes of Health. The marker we have newly identified should help us recognize a majority of these children.
Streptococcal bacteria are the most common disease-causing bacteria in people.
Because a variant of rheumatic fever, Sydenham's chorea or St. Vitus' dance, features neurological problems that result in involuntary movements or tics, Swedo and her colleagues examined children to explore the connection between the bacteria and the disease. The studies revealed a group of children who abruptly and dramatically develop OCD or Tourette's syndrome after b -hemolytic streptococcal infections. Tourette's syndrome can involve the making of noises or use of foul language, but like Sydenham's chorea also features neurological problems that result in involuntary movements or tics. The tic behaviors arise from malfunctions in part of the brain called the basal ganglia. The researchers suggest that it is the immune system's abnormal reaction to the streptococcal bacteria that triggers the disorders in at-risk children.