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Use of CAM by children with autism

JR

Dr. Susan Levy reviewed charts for 284 patients at the Regional Autism Center, which is associated with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She found that 32% of the children were using CAM.

Here’s why her work is important.

Dr. Levy concluded that 25 children (9%) were using a potentially harmful substance.

The nontraditional treatments were divided into 4 categories.

Unproven but harmless biological treatments that have no basis in medical theory

  • Vitamin B6
  • Gastrointestinal medications
  • Antifungal agents

Unproven but harmless treatments with some theoretical basis

  • Vitamin C
  • Gluten-free diets or hormones

Unproven, potentially harmful treatments

  • Chelation
  • Antibiotics
  • High-dose vitamin A
  • Immunoglobins
  • Withholding immunizations

Nonbiological treatments

  • Animal therapy
  • Auditory integration training

You can read more about this epidemiological study at ScienceDaily.

Photo: Answers.com. It has been speculated that Albert Einstein was on what is now considered the autistic spectrum.

2/16/07 00:34 JR

Hi, I’m JR

John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

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