title: Controversies in the treatment of autistic children: vitamin and drug therapy.
abstract: A survey of approximately 4,000 questionnaires completed by parents of autistic children provided ratings on a variety of treatments and interventions. Among the biomedical treatments, the use of high-dosage vitamin B6 and magnesium (n = 318) received the highest ratings, with 8.5 parents reporting behavioral improvement to every one reporting behavioral worsening. Deanol (n = 121) was next most highly rated, with 1.8 parents reporting improvement to each one reporting worsening. Fenfluramine (n = 104) was third, with a ratio of 1.5:1. Thioridazine hydrochloride (Mellaril), by far the most often used drug on the list (n = 724), was fourth with a helped-worsened ratio of 1.4:1. The research literature on the use of vitamin B6-magnesium is briefly reviewed, and mention is made of recent findings regarding high-dosage folic acid in autism and biotin in Rett syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Child Behavior Research, San Diego, CA 92116.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rimland
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002648:Child; D003642:Deanol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005277:Fenfluramine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008274:Magnesium / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011736:Pyridoxine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013881:Thioridazine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014815:Vitamins / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins; D005277:Fenfluramine; D003642:Deanol; D008274:Magnesium; D011736:Pyridoxine; D013881:Thioridazine