title: The failure of antimotion sickness medication to improve reading in developmental dyslexia: results of a randomized trial.
abstract: Although there have been no randomized clinical trials of the efficacy of antimotion sickness medication treatment of developmental dyslexia, some children are treated in this way. We have performed two evaluations of such treatments. In Experiment 1, 12 children participated in a double-blind within-subject crossover design to test the acute (2-day) administration of four preparations: 10 mg methylphenidate, 12.5 mg meclizine, both methylphenidate and meclizine, or placebo. Improvements obtained with each drug were scattered across measures of reading fluency, balance and coordination, and eye movements, suggesting that a chronic trial would be justified. In Experiment 2, six children from Experiment 1 received 12.5 mg meclizine b.i.d. for 3 months and placebo for 3 months in a double-blind within-subject crossover design. Meclizine had no effect on reading, but it significantly improved ocular motor stability during steady fixation. This study thus failed to support the hypothesis that meclizine is of benefit in developmental dyslexia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Fagan
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Raymond
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Edgington
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008468:Meclizine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008774:Methylphenidate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000187:drug effects; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D011897:Random Allocation; D011932:Reading; D012438:Saccades / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D008774:Methylphenidate; D008468:Meclizine