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Alternative Medicine Use Common With Autism

1 in 3 Autistic Children Use Alternative Treatments

WebMD Health News

Jan. 12, 2004 -- Up to one-third of autistic children may have received complementary or alternative medicine treatments, and a new study shows that nearly one in 10 may have used a potentially harmful type.

Researchers say the increasing number of children with autism has sparked interest in new services and treatments to care for them. There is no cure for autism, and experts say the best treatment includes intensive use of behavioral and educational methods.

But the study shows that parents of autistic children are also turning to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments in hopes of alleviating some of the symptoms of the condition, such as gastrointestinal and sleep disorders.

Alternative Autism Treatments Popular

In the study, which appears in the December issue of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, researchers reviewed the charts of 284 children recently diagnosed with autism at the Regional Autism Center of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to see how often use of complementary or alternative treatments was reported.

Researchers divided the nontraditional treatment approaches into four main categories:

Unproven, but harmless biological treatments that have no scientific basis, such as vitamin supplements including B6 and magnesium, gastrointestinal medications, and antifungal agents.
Unproven, but harmless biological treatments that have some scientific basis, such as gluten-free diets, vitamin C, and hormones.
Unproven, potentially harmful biological treatments, such as chelation, antibiotics, high-dose vitamin A, immunoglobin, or withholding immunizations.
Nonbiological treatments, such as animal therapy, auditory integration training, and others.

Overall, the study showed that more than 30% of the children were using some CAM, and 9% were using a potentially harmful type.

Researchers found that children who had other medical ailments or were mentally retarded were also less likely to use complementary or alternative therapies than others. Having to wait longer for an appointment at an autism center also seemed to increase the likelihood of CAM use.

Researchers say that previous studies have shown that about 2% of all children use some type of complementary or alternative medicine and that number is higher among those with specific health conditions.

In addition, Latinos were seven times more likely to use CAM, but researchers say there were too few Latinos enrolled in this study to make any firm conclusions.

Alternative Autism Treatments Not Always Complementary

The study shows that frustration may drive many parents of autistic children to seek alternative treatments as evidenced by the fact that older children, those who had been seen by a previous health care provider, and those who had to wait longer to get an appointment with the autism center were more likely to have used CAM.

Researchers say the goal of many of these treatments is usually not to treat autism per se, but to address some of the problems faced by children with autism, and healthcare providers should address those issues.

"If parents believe that clinicians do not respect their beliefs and decisions or are unwilling to negotiate around the use of additional treatment strategies, these strategies may become alternative rather than complementary," writes researcher Susan Levy, MD, director of the Regional Autism Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues.

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