A mysterious illness, similar to Tourette syndrome, was found in 12 teenage girls who all attend LeRoy Junior-Senior High School in upstate New York. Thera Sanchez, a cheerleader, took a nap one day in October of last year and when she woke up, her life was different. Sanchez began to experience verbal outburst and her body movements were uncontrollable. Sanchez soon learned that there were 11 other teens displaying the same symptoms. Doctors were bemused by the symptoms and Sanchez said, “I’m very frustrated. No one’s giving me answers.”
After investigating the school and its surroundings for more than three months, health officials ruled out environmental causes. Dr. Gregory Young of the New York Department of Health said to NBC News, “We have conclusively ruled out any form of infection or communicable disease and there’s no evidence of any environmental factor.” The symptoms were reportedly caused by stress related issues, however, Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN says in medicine, this is a “diagnosis of exclusion,” meaning stress was the residual factor.
