Study backs blood drug use to treat autism
Friday, February 07, 2014
A study of the origins of autism lends support to a controversial treatment using a blood pressure drug, it is claimed.
By John von Radowitz
This activated a neural switch that prevented nerve cells becoming over-excited believed to be one of the underlying causes of autism.
Since there is no way to screen for autism in human foetuses, the same treatment could not be given to human pregnant mothers.
However, a controversial trial previously suggested bumetanide can improve social behaviour in children from the age of three with mild forms of autism.
After three months on the drug, the 27 children aged three to 11 had better autism symptom scores than children taking a dummy placebo.
Children with severe autism did not appear to benefit, according to the results published last year in the journal Translational Psychiatry.
Although the study has attracted criticism from a number of experts who doubted its significance, its authors say that the new research vindicates their approach.
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Study backs blood drug use to treat autism