Beware of Non-Evidence-Based Treatments

Parents can protect themselves and their children from expensive and ineffective treatments by learning to critically evaluate various claims. Before having their child begin any treatment, parents should question whether there is a coherent scientific rationale behind the intervention and whether it makes biological sense. They should also ask their health care practitioner whether the treatment has been proven effective and safe in objective scientific studies (with comparison to controls – i.e., patients who did not receive the treatment), and whether those studies have been published in well established, highly reputable, peer-reviewed medical journals. It is important to know that anyone can publish a study on the Internet or start a new journal.

Healthcare fraud is a huge business in the U.S., and parents of children with autism are often targeted. Fringe treatment providers prey on desperation and fear, and deceive parents with numerous unfounded claims. You may read about the following non-evidence based treatments:

Chelation: Chelation therapy involves administering chemicals designed to bind to heavy metals and eliminate them from the body. Chelating agents have a legitimate use in the treatment of poisoning from lead, mercury and other metals. However, there is no evidence in the medical literature that chelation is safe or effective for the treatment of ASDs. Autism is not metal poisoning. In 2005, a child with autism died from chelation therapy, when the chelating agent administered bonded with calcium in the child’s body, causing his heart to stop. No paper published in the peer-reviewed literature has reported an abnormal body burden of mercury in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Mercury poisoning is associated with bilateral constriction of visual fields, paresthesias (tingling or numbness of the skin), hypertension, skin rashes, and thrombocytopenia (low platelet count). These conditions are seldom seen with autism. Exposure to mercury and other neurotoxins in fetuses and infants is associated with microcephaly (small head size). In autism, increasing evidence indicates that both head and brain size tend to be larger than population norms.

Lupron protocol: Lupron is a testosterone-inhibiting drug used in the treatment of precocious puberty (which is rare) and prostate cancer, as well as for the “chemical castration” of sex offenders. Its use for autism is based on the hypothesis that testosterone magnifies the toxic effects of mercury (see above). There is no evidence that Lupron is safe or effective for the treatment of autism. Side effects of Lupron include hives, difficulty breathing or swallowing, numbness, tingling, weakness, painful or difficult urination, blood in the urine, bone pain, testicular pain and osteoporosis.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy: HBOT is proven effective for gangrene, carbon monoxide poisoning, “the bends” and various other conditions related to oxygen in blood. There is no evidence that ASD is related to insufficient oxygen. There is insufficient evidence to determine if HBOT is safe or effective for the treatment of autism. Furthermore, the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen delivered in a soft-shelled chamber are no different than with a less expensive oxygen tent, or nasal cannula.

Gluten Free-Casein Free (GFCF) Diet: Promoters of a gluten (wheat) and casein (dairy) free diet claim that children with autism have "leaky guts" that allow opioids to escape into the bloodstream, where they travel to the brain, causing autistic behaviors. There is no evidence for this claim, and at least one study has found that children with autism have no more opioids in their blood than a control group. Furthermore, children on the GFCF diet have been found to have lower bone density than controls, which could lead to osteoporosis. A large-scale study of the safety and efficacy of the GFCF diet indicated that children on the diet had similar outcomes to those who were not on the diet.

Stem cell therapy: Stem cell therapy for autism is illegal in the United States, but that hasn’t stopped some from offering this as a treatment for autism in Costa Rico, China, and other countries. There is no evidence that the treatment is safe or effective for autism, and no guarantee that the stem cells used in these countries are even human.