Antioxidant for autism
June 4, 2012
RESEARCHERS at Stanford
University School of Medicine and
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
have found evidence that the
antioxidant N-acetylcysteine may
be an effective therapy for some
features of autism.
The study, published in Biological
Psychiatry, looked at 31 autistic
children between the ages of three
and 12, some of which were given
the antioxidant, whilst the others
were given a placebo for 12 weeks.
The children were evaluated
before the trial began and every
four weeks during the study using
surveys that measured problem
behaviors, social behaviors, autistic
preoccupations and drug side effects.
The results found that the
children taking the supplement
PharmaNAC, (which contains
pharmaceutical grade Nacetylcysteine)
had lowered
irritability scores (down from 13.1
to 7.2) and lowered repetitive
behaviors.
“The change is not as large as
that seen in children taking
antipsychotics but this is still a
potentially valuable tool to have
before jumping on these big guns,”
said the study’s lead author, Dr
Antonio Hardan, who was quick to
add that the study’s findings must
now be confirmed in a larger trial.
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