title: Autism, will vitamin D treat core symptoms?
abstract: No medication exists to treat the core symptoms of autism. However, some children spontaneously improve and have optimal outcomes. Parents of autistic children who have access to swimming pool have reported summertime improvement in symptoms to me. A Japanese case report found the same summer times improvements. If the cause of that summertime improvement could be identified, it may lead to effective treatment. Vitamin D is highly seasonal with a summertime surfeit and a wintertime deficit. The hypotheses that the increased prevalence in the diagnosis of autism is due to better detection imply that parents, teachers and physicians of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s missed this non subtle diagnosis, an unlikely scenario. Recent research indicates that autism often first present itself during the second and third year of life. This is a time when most toddlers have no known sources of vitamin D. Vitamin D has remarkable antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-autoimmune properties. In vitro, in vivo, and animal experiments provide compelling data for vitamin D's role brain proliferation, differentiation, neurotrophism, neuroprotection, neurotransmission, and neuroplasticity. It also upregulates glutathione, upregulates a suit of genes involved in DNA repair and raises the seizure threshold. Adequate, perhaps pharmacological, doses of vitamin D may have a treatment effect in the core symptoms of autism.
authors.affiliation: Vitamin D Council, 697 Higuera Street, Suite H, San Luis Obispo 93401, USA. jjcannell@vitamindcouncil.org
authors.forename: John Jacob
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cannell
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D