News tagged with pandas

PANDAS is an abbreviation for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections. This diagnosis is used to describe a set of children who have a rapid onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and/or tic disorders such as Tourette syndrome (TS), following group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infections such as "strep throat" and scarlet fever. The proposed link between infection and these disorders is an autoimmune reaction, where antibodies produced by the infection interfere with neuronal cells.

This diagnosis is controversial and its usefulness is disputed by some scientists who think this sub-set of patients do not differ significantly from the remainder of the patient population, and that infections do not increase the risk of OCD or tics. Consequently, the PANDAS model is a complex and rapidly-moving area of medical research, with a 2009 review stating that the link between streptococcal infections and tic disorders has remained unclear, despite a great deal of work in the area. PANDAS is currently not listed as a diagnosis by the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).