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Century-old drug for sleep sickness may help 'reverse' autism symptoms in humans

Century-old drug for sleep sickness may help 'reverse' autism symptoms in humans

Written by Agencies |Published : January 16, 2015 4:06 PM IST

Washington, January 16: A new study has revealed that a century-old drug corrects genetic autism symptoms in laboratory mice, which might suggest a pathway for treatment in humans. Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine previously reported that a drug used for almost a century to treat trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness, reversed environmental autism-like symptoms in mice. The new study suggests that a genetic form of autism-like symptoms in mice is also corrected with suramin, a drug long used for sleeping sickness, even when treatment was started in young adult mice.

Researcher Robert K. Naviaux said that their data show that the efficacy of the approach, called antipurinergic therapy or APT, cuts across disease models in Autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Naviaux added that both the environmental and genetic mouse models responded with a complete, or near complete, reversal of ASD symptoms and APT seems to be a common denominator in improving social behavior and brain synaptic abnormalities in these ASD models. (Read: 6 tips for parents to deal with autistic children)

Naviaux noted that suramin is not a drug that can be used for more than a few months without a risk of toxicity in humans. However, he said it is the first of its kind in a new class of drugs that may not need to be given chronically to produce beneficial effects. New antipurinergic medicines, he said, might be given once or intermittently to unblock metabolism, restore more normal neural network function, improve resilience and permit improved development in response to conventional, interdisciplinary therapies and natural play.

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Read more about Autism- causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention

Naviaux cautioned that correcting abnormalities in a mouse is a long way from a cure in humans, but the study adds momentum to discoveries at the crossroads of genetics, metabolism, innate immunity, and the environment for several childhood chronic disorders. These crossroads represent new leads in our efforts to understand the origins of autism and to develop treatments for children and adults with ASD. (Read: 10 misconceptions about children with autism busted!)

The study is published online in Molecular Autism.

Here are some autism therapies and treatments

The TEACCH Approach: In the TEACCH approach a structured teaching method is taken up to help the autistic children. The intervention begins with an assessment of emerging skills. Work then focuses on enhancing them. This involves creating an individualized lesson plan in place of a standard school curriculum. The plan creates a highly structured environment to help the individual map out activities.

Teachers and aides use visual supports to organize the physical and social environment. The aim is to help the student more easily predict and understand daily activities and respond in appropriate ways. Visual supports likewise help the student approach specific tasks in a step by step manner.

Look for a special school that works on the TEACCH approach and help your autistic child learn the nuances to cope with the disorder.

Cognitive behavioural therapy or CBT: It is a type of psychological intervention used to change how people think and behave. CBT uses a variety of techniques to help people become more aware of how they think, so that they can change how they think and therefore how they behave. There is a significant amount of high quality research evidence to suggest that cognitive behavioural therapy may help reduce the symptoms of anxiety in some individuals with autism. Read more about World Autism Awareness Day 2014: Treating autism therapies and treatments

With inputs from ANI

Photo source: Getty images


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