RAGEGIST

Zack Lamb and family are at breaking point over his debilitating battle with Tourette syndrome

Battling Tourette's Syndrome

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Zach Lamb's compulsive 'ticcing' as a result of Tourette's Syndrome has become so bad that doctors placed him in an induced coma. Courtesy SBS/Dateline

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ZACK Lamb is a teenager who can’t stop swearing.

He also regularly hits his parents, becomes violent and has smashed dozens of holes in the walls of his family home.
But it’s not because he’s a spoiled angry kid with attitude problems. This teen from Pinehurst, North Carolina, suffers from such a severe form of Tourette syndrome that it can leave him temporarily paralysed.
Constant swearing and growling are far from his only problems.
Zack’s condition is so debilitating he has few friends and fears if it weren’t for his supportive family he would wind up in a mental institution.
The teenager’s compulsive tics have become so bad that doctors placed him in an induced coma in a last-ditch effort to stop his violent convulsions.
The US teenager’s story, which will appear on SBS’s dateline tonight, depicts a family so desperate for help that they are now considering radical brain surgery.

Mary Lamb said the biggest fear about risky surgery was that her son would never wake up. Picture: SBS/Dateline Source: SBS

If they choose to go ahead with the rare and risky operation known as Deep Brain Stimulation, a battery will be implanted into Zack’s brain to emit electrical impulses which may help curb his violent muscular twitches.
Zack’s mother Mary is now embarking on a mission to find a surgeon willing to perform this potentially life-altering procedure, but she fears he may not survive it.
“If they do this, and put him to sleep, will he wake up?” she tells dateline journalist Aaron Lewis.
The journalist, who first met Zack at a camp for tourette sufferers last year said the teenager suffers from one of the most severe cases of Tourette syndrome in America.

The Lamb family are desperate for help. Picture: SBS/Dateline Source: SBS

The journalist said the Zack’s case had moved him more than any other story he had worked on.
Zack describes his uncontrollable need to hit things, and recounts the heartbreaking time he broke a family member’s wrist.
“In the hospital, one day, and I hit, twisted the arm. Broke her wrist. And I felt so bad after that. I was crying about it. And she was ... Yeah,” he said.

The US teen has spasms where he can't stop swearing. Picture: SBS/Dateline Source: SBS

Lewis told SBS radio yesterday that surgery remained the family’s only hope even though it’s still considered experimental and radical for treating Tourette syndrome.
According to the Tourette syndrome Association of Australia there is no known cure for this neurological disorder, which affects an estimated one-in-200 people.
The disorder, which usually begins between the ages of two and 20, is permanent but not degenerative, meaning people can live long and healthy lives.
While medication can be effective to control some of the symptoms, the association says education and learning techniques can also help.
Symptoms vary between sufferers. Some people experience milder tics such as eye blinking and head jerking or barking and squealing. Whereas more severe symptoms include jumping, repetitive movements, hitting or biting or swearing.
Symptoms may also come and go but often appear more regularly during stressful periods.
* Fighting Chance premieres on SBS One, Dateline tonight at 9.30pm.

The teenager suffers violent outbursts, often directed at his family. Picture: SBS/Dateline Source: SBS