In class this past Tuesday, Andrew mentioned a story about a former student who claimed to have been cured from Autism through he use of vitamin C treatments. This claim absolutely astounded me for I had never heard of such a treatment for this disease that until this point I thought was incurable. This claim sparked a very passionate search into an answer of whether or not vitamins could in fact treat or even cure this disorder.

It was first important to define this disease before looking into these studies. Autism speaks.org defines Autism as a “complex disorder of brain development”. This disorder causes those effected to have difficultly is certain social interaction, whether it be verbal or nonverbal. For such a complex disease, according to The Autism Society, while there is no true known cause of this disorder, “it is generally accepted that it is caused by abnormalities in brain structure”.  Web MD shows that Autism can be treated through behavioral management and other therapies which can include “speech, occupational, and physical”. It is import thought to understand the italicized word treatment. Autism can only be medically treated because there is no known scientific confirmed method in which it can be cured. However, while it has not yet been accepted in the world of medicine as a cure, some doctors claim that this disease can be effectively treated (and in some cases) cured through the use of Vitamin therapy.

In a Medscape Article, Doctor Gayle Nicholas Scott of Eastern Virginia medical school discusses certain traits of Autism and its effects on the individual, along with two studies that give light on the issue of vitamin treatment. In the article,  Scott goes into the the common nature and likelihood of the disease in children, claiming it to be a 1 in 68 chance.  She also goes on to rule out specific causes of Autism, such as poor parenting and vaccinations (for anyone in class last Tuesday you’ll know how important this claim is). After setting this stage, she beings to discuss two separate clinical trials, both being double blind placebo controlled. The “pilot study” observed 20 children who were given vitamin supplements.  This initial study “reported better sleep and improved gastrointestinal system”. The second and large study of 141 children and adults were not as optimistic. It showed “no meaningful improvements in autism systems is 3 of 4 assessments”, however, it did find some cases of improved verbal and physical communication.

Another study published in 2004 described a double blind placebo trial which found similar results to Scott’s research. According to Dr. Julius G. Goepp, the trial showed that by “increasing the levels of vitamins B6 and C, children with Autism showed improvements in sleep and bowel patterns.” Along with these results, Goepp also offered somewhat of a mechanism that could explain these results. He explains that children with Autism have low levels of enzymes needed to activate the B6 vitamin, and that the lack of this natural vitamin can lead to the reduction of neurotransmitters essential to language development. By this standing, it makes sense how the artificial replacement of the B6 vitamin can help a child with Autism. It can help replicate what the body needs in order to activate the language center. If this claim is in fact correct, then this is truly a monumental discovery for the treatment and possible cure of this disorder.

While it is easy to get caught up in the awe that these two studies have created, one must take a step back and take a look at the bigger spectrum of the issue. When researching this topic, one will come up with only a handful of actual credible sources that examine a trusted study. Take for instance a specific Vitamin C study. It’s author (who is not specified) claims to have witnessed extreme improvement in “both speech and comprehension”.  The only problem is, this result did not come from a large control trial, but a single case found in a 4 four old child. It is very likely that this could be a result of a fluke discovery. One can also find results from other websites, such as this one titled Healing Autism with Vitamins. This article talks about specific examples of where vitamins have in fact cured Autism altogether. This is a significant discovery until you realize that the websites slogan is “drink your vitamins” (an obvious case of how industry and business are influencing results).

It is difficult not to be fascinated by the results found in the well run placebo trials. These do in fact show drastic improvements in the symptoms Autism patients face. However, it is too early to claim these discoveries as cures. A Interactive Autism network article which discusses  vitamin treatment for Autism truly summarizes it up best, by claiming that “vitamin therapy and nutritional supplements beyond this…are not fully supported and need to be further studied”