Tourette Syndrome and Human Behavior

by David E. Comings

The story of how Tourette syndrome, a common hereditary disorder, provides insights into the cause and treatment of a wide range of human behavioral problems. It covers diagnosis, associated behaviors including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, learning disorders, dyslexia, conduct disorder, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, alcoholism, drug abuse, obesity, depression, panic attacks, phobias, night terrors, bed wetting, sleep disturbances, lying, stealing, inappropriate sexual behavior, and others, brain structure and chemistry, treatment and implications for society, over 2,500 references, 30 page Tourette syndrome-Human Behavior Questionnaire, and Extensive index

850 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1990

About the author

Dr. Comings is a physician, behavioral and molecular geneticist who was the Director of the Department of Medical Genetics at the City of Hope National Medical Center for 37 years before retiring in 2002. He is an internationally known scientist-physician who has written over 490 scientific articles and five books. His research included human behavioral and molecular genetics, specializing in Tourette Syndrome and ADHD in children. He was past editor of the American Journal of Human Genetics and past president of the American Society of Human Genetics. He served on several grant review boards including NIH Genetics Board and the March of Dimes Basal O’Connor Grants.
After he retired, he turned his research interests to climate change and global warming and set up a non-profit TheComingsFoundation.org devoted to combating global warming. He is very concerned about the anti-climate change policies of the Trump Administration. His latest book is “The Science of Global Warming. Four Ways to Fix It.” A major purpose of this book was to show climate change deniers, including those in the Trump Administration, that the science strongly supports the reality of climate change and global warming, that it is due to the burning of fossil fuels, and with great effort, it is fixable. The book describes in detail four approaches to combating global warming emphasizing CDR (Carbon Dioxide Removal and safe sequestration). It has been estimated that it will be necessary to remove 10 gigatons of CO2 per year up to 2050 and 20 gigatons per year until 2100 and on. These four CDR’s can do that.
The book also points out that our youth are at the greatest risk of climate change. If no efforts are made now to combat global warming global temperatures are likely to be 3oC to 4oC or more, higher than preindustrial time and by the time our youth are in their 60’s to 80’s - with draconian results. It is of note that we are currently putting CO2 into the atmosphere 10 x faster than occurred with the “the Great Dying” of the Permian-Triassic Extinction, the world’s greatest extinction event.
The book is due out the end of August 2025. An earlier version
If I Were a Billionaire, these are the Four Things I Would do to Combat Global Warming and Help Save the Planet. The Science of Global Warming is available on Amazon.


SEJ version
Dr. Comings is a physician, behavioral and molecular geneticist who was the Director of the Department of Medical Genetics at the City of Hope National Medical Center for 37 years before retiring in 2002. He is an internationally known scientist-physician who has written over 490 scientific articles and five books. His research included human behavioral and molecular genetics, specializing in Tourette Syndrome and ADHD in children. He was the past editor of the American Journal of Human Genetics and the past president of the American Society of Human Genetics. He served on several grant review boards, including the NIH Genetics Board and the March of Dimes Basal O’Connor Grants.
After he retired, he turned his research interests to climate change and global warming and set up a non-profit, TheComingsFoundation.org, devoted to combating global warming. He is very concerned about the anti-climate change policies of the Trump Administration. His latest book is “The Science of Global Warming. Four Ways to Fix It.” A major purpose of this book was to show climate change deniers, including those in the Trump Administration, that the science strongly supports the reality of climate change and global warming, that it is due to the burning of fossil fuels, and with great effort, it is fixable. The book describes in detail four approaches to combating global warming, emphasizing CDR (Carbon Dioxide Removal and safe sequestration). It has been estimated that it will be necessary to remove 10 gigatons of CO2 per year up to 2050 and 20 gigatons per year until 2100 and on. These four CDRs can do that.
The book also points

Reviews

[Robaire Beckwith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dated. It does however contain information on the non-tic aspects of TS and even touches on the neuroendocrine issues. Comings was one of the pioneers of modern non-psychoanalytic (e.g science/evidence-based) approaches to TS medicine and this volume is a valuable to those wishing to understand the transition from the bizarre 'psychiatric' approaches to TS research and treatment that became prevalent in the first half of the 20th C. Comings, Shapiro (and to my mind Oliver Sacks) lead this emergence which still continues. Like most clinical texts on TS there remains however an adherence to the 'psychiatric comorbidity' concept with little evidence to support it's scientific validity.